Whisper
by Kimiko Heroux
Summary: Influenced by Fate, she ends up touched by the ones she swore as her enemies. They affect her in ways she never anticipated, pushing her to find her voice and whisper the words she's always needed to say. [Now complete!]
1. Part One

**.Author's Note. Alright, so I really have no idea what drew me to write this. I just recently started watching Tai Chi Chasers and I'm not very fond of it, but I had random inspiration, so I was randomly writing, and this is what came of it. Wonderful.**

**Important note: This is a teaser. I don't _plan _on continuing it, but _maybe _if people really like this and I get some positive reviews, I'll continue. I actually have ideas for future parts, but really, I may just leave this to rot. It is pretty cool being the second person to ever post a Tai Chi Chasers fic, though...**

**Also another thing. The narrator of this, my OC Ara (a Korean name for a Korean cartoon. That was done on purpose), has a condition called Selective Mutism, in which a person (usually a child) involuntarily goes mute under certain circumstances. They get their voice back either around certain people or at certain places. Ara has it and only can talk when she's at home.**

**Now, Ara's background is really dim and unclear in this, mostly for the fact that I didn't plan it out completely and also for the fact that gradually revealing details is kinda my writing style. **

**So anyway, all of my babbling aside, it'd mean a lot to get at least a few reviews for this. I hope you enjoy it :)**

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.:Whisper:.

My feet slipped from under me and I fell backwards, banging my head against the concrete. I mentally cussed as I jumped back up and held my hand to the back of my skull. I felt the warmness of blood on my fingertips through the downpour of cold rain. Biting my tongue to prevent more obscenities from slipping out, I continued on in a hard run. _It's here somewhere…_ My eyes darted about rapidly, despite the combination of the rainstorm and the darkness of night heeding my vision.

A glitter of pale blue light was caught in the very corner of my eye. I swerved toward it, almost again losing my balance by slipping in a collected puddle of water. I wasn't yet used to this, despite all of the preparations I had gone through. _No, more like forced through…_ I furrowed my brows and tightened my eyes, feeling it all come back to me in a single instant. _Ara, you just shut up about that. The way you seem to shut up about everything else…_

The light was farther off than I anticipated. The rough feeling on my fingertips as I ran my hands along the brick walls on both sides of me began to wear away my skin. It was short-lasted, because the alleyway quickly opened up into a park. It was dotted with a few trees about and a children's playground off to the side, but in the very center where the glow was coming from was an elegantly-designed fountain. The light made the water flowing down it shimmer and glow. Atop the statue that centered the fountain was a symbol, the source of the light. I recognized that character from my studies. _Ki. Breath._

I picked up the pace, not hesitating to leap into the fountain and climb to the top of it. The stone was slick from the rain that was still coming down in sheets, but the entrancing light kept my motivation in the front of my mind. As soon as my hand grasped it, I felt the touch of someone else meeting me to it. My head shot upward, my eyes flaring.

Through the shrouds of nighttime with the gentle light of _Ki_, I could see his bright red-brown eyes gleaming like a feline's as he ground his teeth in instant anger at me. His unruly, red hair was matted down from the rain and his bangs drooped down into his face. "Hey! What's the big idea? That's _my_ Tai Chi Card!" he snapped, trying to yank the Card toward him, but I put up resistance. His voice hit my ears hard with their notes; it seemed like he didn't have a good hold on his emotions. "Who are you?"

My mouth opened, but no words came out. _I should know that nothing will come out unless I'm home…_ I resorted to merely pursing my lips and yanking the Card from his grasp. Keeping my gaze on him, I launched myself from the statue and landed nimbly on the ground. The Card stopped glowing and I knew that'd assist me and a getaway. My eyes scanned around, my head not moving, and aside from that boy, I had a feeling there were others around, waiting for me to make a move.

I slid my finger up and down along the edge of the Card as I calculated. No amount of planning I could do was going to do anything, and so I took my chances. I stepped backwards, preparing to turn tail and run before they could react, but without warning, my feet slid and I landed on my back again. _God, I'm not this clumsy, am I? _My hands ran along the ground and it was unusually a numbing cold. _How is there ice here…? It was Bing, wasn't it?_

The red-headed boy jumped down from the fountain and approached me with a grin. He looked off to the side into the darkness. "Heh. Nice one, Finn."

A second boy materialized form the blackness. His face was expressionless and deathly pale. His blue eyes were like the ice he wielded and his dark hair fell before them. The marks of the Tigeroid were marred on his face. He didn't respond to the words directed to him; his stare bore into me and I tried to decrypt what his irises were trying to say. He was a master of his own emotions; he wasn't going to show anything that he didn't want seen.

My head adjusted toward the redhead when he began to demand things of me again. "Now unless you want to get hurt, I suggest you hand over that Card!" I could see in his face he was tempted to jump on top of me and wrestle me for possession of the Card, and he was merely suppressing the desire. "Do it or else!"

Pulling myself up into a crouch, I turned my head to the side to analyze his face a second time. _He's so cocky. He really has no doubt in his mind that he'll stop me from getting away with the Tai Chi Card. _I opened my mouth as a habit that wanted to spit out an insult, but instantly closed it again. _But he's mistaken…_ I swept my leg, using the ice to gain momentum in my motion, and tripped the boy. My attempt was made to fell the other as well, but he anticipated my move and gracefully leapt over my leg, pulling out a Card of his own and preparing to use it.

_Did I just see the smallest of smiles? I'm amusing him…_ Before he could put slide his Card into his Activator to unleash its power, I was on my feet and on the move. _I don't have to waste my time on a fight that I'm not required to take part in._

A girl's voice echoed from nowhere. "Tai Chi _Pong_! Wind!"

Out of nowhere, through the sound of the downpour, I caught ear of a gust just as it hit me hard, halting my motion and causing me to block my face from the blast of air and the pelting drops that heavily handicapped my vision more so than prior. I turned my head away and my hand shielding the conditions partly, I saw the owner of the voice and the attack emerge. She was just short of my height and had long brown hair that matched her eyes in color. The lines on her face showed uptightness and possibly a complex regarding operating correctly.

"You _will_ hand over that Card," she stated, as if her command would make me that much more eager to obey. "If you hadn't noticed, you're outnumbered three to one." The wind whipped her hair around as she came closer. We locked eyes and held matching gazes of aggravation. "So, is there anything you'd like to say for yourself?" Her lip curved upward on one side to make a small smirk.

_I don't have anything to say to you. _My eyes fell and I just stared at her shoes. Blue flats with lavender straps that slightly resembled butterflies. _Those are just disgusting…_ My look moved around the ground. Her feet were before me, and now on my right, I could see that cocky boy's, and on my left, that other kid. _Of course, that stupid redhead took the side of me closest to my hand that's holding the Card. He's so eager for a chance at it…_

He showed off a toothy grin. "Looks to me like you're surrounded! Don'tchya think it's about time you give up?" A long pause ensued as I didn't bother even trying to get words out. "You _could_ answer me! C'mon, I'm trying to intimidate you here! Man, I just don't get girls…" _You don't get much of anything, if you ask me…_

The wind died down, but the rain persisted stubbornly. I dropped my arms back down to my sides and stared at nothing in particular in the dark, shapeless distance. The cocky boy was right that I was surrounded, if you included the fountain behind me. _Judging by what they've already shown me, that girl be the easiest to get past, but she's in the middle. Hm…I could try backtracking. It'll probably do more bad than good, though…_

Apparently I was taking too long and the redhead was growing impatient. _Figures. _"I've had enough!" He pulled out an Activator and two Cards, slashing them each one by one. "Tai Chi _Hwa_! Fire! Tai Chi _Po_! Aggressive! Come together and form Tai Chi _Pak_! Explosion!"

The symbol appeared in flash of crimson light and I knew I had to act fast. I back-stepped only once when the attack activated. I jumped backwards for all I was worth, the fire meeting my face just before I let my body fall back into the basin of the fountain where all of the water collected. I was submerged under the water and I watched the flames burn in air just above me. _If I had reacted just a second slower, I'd have burns on much more than just my face…_

I pushed myself with just a slight motion of my arms until I was on the other side. The fire was still burning, and I didn't believe that any of them had seen me drop into the fountain. _Good, that means they'll still be distracted…_ I threw up with my legs and when I got to my feet, I was suddenly face-to-face with that cold-eyed boy. _What did that kid say his name is? Finn? Whatever his name is, he is too smart for his own good._ We glowered at each other, his aquamarine irises facing off against my dark magenta.

I wasn't about to admit his ghost-like appearance intimidated me, but truthfully, it did. It seemed that out of all of them, he was the one I had reason to be concerned about. That emotionless mask he had brought me to the thought that he wasn't afraid to hit a girl to get what he wants. That fact didn't surprise me; I knew enough people that hit me for their own, selfish reasons. _And they're the reason I'm standing right here, right now, trying to steal one, useless Card._

Pivoting my figure slightly, I had to turn my head to keep my gaze on him. I could feel the glares of the other two Tigeroids digging into my spine. I moved my legs through the water as if in slow motion, watching him, waiting for his move. _I can't tell if he's even got any thoughts going through his head at all…Hmph, he's beginning to get on my nerves…_ I adjusted my head so I could see all three of them. The redhead looked as though he was going to pop any second from edginess, but that girl seemed eager to see how things were going to play out between me and that boy. _That makes two of us…_

My finger continued to move along the Tai Chi Card's edge absentmindedly. The water of the fountain was beginning to numb my legs, causing me to grow anxious to take action. _Might as well. Otherwise I might lose all the feeling in my toes._ I took off. I had no plan; there never was any plan to begin with. Get the Card. Leave. This nothing-more-nothing-less scenario had gone completely a-bust without so much as my consent. _I don't know who's worse: The Tigeroids for complicating things, or the Dragonoids for making me do this._

I'm not sure how, but I managed to make it to a gathering of trees on the opposite side of the park. _They must be toying with me. They could've gotten me right away if they really wanted to…_ I scaled a tree and perched in the thick, concealing branches. Here I took a moment to catch my breath, but not once tuning out the sounds of everything around me. It was hard to hear through the pattering of rain on the leaves, but I was concentrating on any sounds out of the ordinary.

Nothing.

_Maybe they let me get away. _I shook the thought from my mind. _Doubt it. They all seemed pretty interested in getting this Card. _My eyes went over the print of the Card; the character for _Ki_ was etched in the center and in the background was a canvas of hues of blue, accented by marks of white that seemed to represent how you can see your breath in winter. I couldn't determine the ability of the Card through its design, but it was still part of the Tai Chi One Thousand, therefore, it was necessary to have it under my possession. Because if I failed with my mission, I knew only bad could come of it. That I knew full well from experience. Experience I really didn't want to fall back to after coming so far.

Peeking through the smallest opening in my hiding place, I couldn't see much. Even if the opening had been bigger, it was far too dark to make out anything from my current place. So instead, I retreated backwards towards the trunk of the tree, my eyes focused tight to the small barrier of leaves that divided me from the outside world. Inching backwards slowly because of my distraction, it took a moment to realize my back was suddenly up against something that wasn't the tree trunk.

My head shot over in an instant, and my eyes locked onto him in an instant, trying to portray one word with my glare. _You…_

I'm not sure how he had been so noiseless when coming up from behind me, but something inside me told me that this boy with no emotions just wasn't natural. I took my first instinct when I set my eyes on him, opening my mouth to let out a soundless scream and slashing his cheek open with the edge of the Tai Chi Card before I even considered what to do. I dropped backwards off the branch and landed on the ground in a half-crouch. My ankle twisted under me, but I knew I had to just walk it off if I was going to get anywhere.

The last thing I suspected was a tackle. Within a single second, that stupid redhead had tackled me and pinned me down. His ruddy-hued eyes pierced through the darkness and all I could do was stare sharply back with a frown designed with the curves of my lips. _Get that stupid look of dominance off your face before I take it off for you. Painfully. _My gaze shifted to the hand that still grasped the Card. He had my arm pinned down at the wrist. _Correction. I'd take it off if I _could… I attempted to groan, but an emptiness came out of my mouth and it didn't satisfy the emotion I tried to portray. _Ara, you've gotten yourself in deep this time... Just give up the Card. Drop it. It's okay if you go back empty-handed._ I knew that was a dumb thought as soon as it came to mind. _Of course it's not okay if I go back empty-handed. They would kill me. Maybe for real this time. All right, don't let go. No matter what you do, Ara. Don't. Let. Go._

And I complied to my own demands. My fingers held fast, and neither Card nor physical force that they used could pry the Card away from me. I wasn't exactly sure what did it, but I couldn't remember ever being so set on something. I _needed_ to get away with that Tai Chi Card, no matter what injuries I sustained in the process. I couldn't face _them_ if I went back without anything to show for my efforts. They wouldn't care about my twisted ankle, my soaked hair and clothes, my scorched face. It was all about that _demeaning_ _Card_, and all else was just inferior. That included me. They didn't care what I had to go through, what my methods were; they just wanted what they sent me for. I was merely a pawn in their games.

After a while of struggling, the redhead had become seriously ticked that they had gotten nowhere. "Okay, _seriously_! Let go of the Card! We don't have all night!" _Oh, but I do…_ "Don't make me cut off your arm!" _Ha, you've got a pretty messed up mind, kid. I know you don't have the guts to do anything remotely like that._

The brown-haired girl scolded him for such a remark. _Wow, she's putting you in your place…_ But then she suddenly turned, looked down at me, quickly back at him, and demanded, "Now if she isn't gonna give up the Card, then we'll just have to take her along and figure out what to do later!"

_...Wait, what?_


	2. Part Two

**A/N: Okay, here I am again, a second part of this Tai Chi Chasers fic in hand. I decided to continue (with as many positive reviews as I got, I'd feel guilty if I didn't), as long as my readers can provide me with a plot. At this current stage I have nothing aside from a few events, Ara's backstory, and a pairing (which I'll keep as a surprise till it happens), and I'm in need of all of the help I can get. **

**The time this fic takes place is undetermined, exactly. Sometime during the course of the show before Rai learns he's both Tigeroid and Dragonoid, so somewhere pretty early in the series when they're still collecting Cards as their main objective. I don't plan on interweaving any of the episodes in this, but if it comes down to it, I am willing to do so.**

**Sooo... R&R please and give me any ideas you guys may have! It'd mean a lot to me! :) Enjoy!  
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Alright, so maybe this whole thing wasn't such a good idea. My struggling didn't really do much to convince them not to take me along—actually I think it made that cocky kid even more eager, since it meant doing something that annoyed me—and now…

…Yeah, I was royally screwed.

So here I was. They took me aboard what they called the Tiger Airship (which really did look like a tiger, making me have the distinct urge to groan) and not giving me much time to look around, they put me in this room. Okay, maybe not so much a room as more of a wide, open hallway. The walls were all made of wood, of which it seemed the whole ship was constructed, and there were two doors on opposite sides of each other. The area was pretty much empty—no, actually it was all empty. And giving me the bland reasoning of "we don't have any rooms that lock from the outside to keep you in, so we're putting you here", they suspended my arms with ropes from the ceiling, making me feel like I was on a cross.

_Yup, well, this is just perfect._

That fact didn't bother me as much as I thought it would, as I've been put in worse places, but what really got to me was the fact of the two doors. Constantly there were people going from door to door, going about their business. That was how I found out there were two more Tigeroids here. They were two guys, one kind of heftier guy that seemed to have always been carrying food around with him, and the other a short boy with blond hair and glasses that had a constant need to be talking.

When I first arrived, I wasn't very amused. That big-headed kid who's name was apparently Rai had the others gather around me like I was some sort of game trophy, going on and on about how _he_ captured me (but only to get mad when the girl, whose name I heard to be Sena, mocked him openly by asking him then, "If you're so strong, then how come you couldn't get the Card out of her _hand_?"). He annoyed me beyond tolerance with his gloating, so when he drew near with his over-inflated ego, I did the one thing that could shut him up:

Kicked him where the sun doesn't shine.

As he managed to hit some keys of soprano, I turned my head away in defiance. _You had that coming, Kid. It's what you get for talking about me like I'm some sort of prize…_ I closed my eyes as he began his complaints, trying to block out his overly-irritating voice. There was a level of level-headedness that I could retain, but I was getting closer and closer to that gray area that separated the coolness and the irritability that was sometimes too hard to control.

But I was keeping myself from that gray area just knowing he still couldn't pry the Tai Chi Card out of my hand. I felt I was one-upping the guy every time that thought came to mind. So much that when he recovered from the blow, I wasn't really intimidated when he had this look of death thrown on his face. We were close to the same height, so when he eliminated the distance between us and sent me that expression of loathing, I broke into a dominant smirk. Words didn't have to come from my lips even if they could for my message to shine through.

A long moment of silence ensued, the others just watching to see what would happen between us. All I could really do was study his face. His skin was surprisingly tan, my best guess from spending so much time out hunting Tai Chi Cards, and it emphasized his fiery eyes. It helped prove to me that he didn't like me all that much.

Without my conscious consent, a staring contest began between us. Holding my gaze was simple enough, but it grew excessively more difficult when I noticed his eye twitching slightly. _Crap, he's doing that on purpose to throw me off!_ So to solve that problem, I leaned forward slightly and blew a puff of air on his face. He sprung back like a cat being hit by water from a spray bottle and after a moment's pause, came back with anger flaring and revealed heavily in his tone, "_You…_" He must not have been able to get over it and stormed out, calling back to the other Tigeroids, "C'mon, guys! We should let her cockiness dissipate!" _Wow, someone's a sore loser._

The others departed a bit more unsurely, casting glances back at me as they walked away, and all I could do was watch them go. There was nothing that I could think of that would keep me occupied and my sanity within reasonable bounds. The silence wasn't very uncomfortable, as I found myself constantly in the company of only my own mind, and neither was the position I was in, even though they had turned the lights out on me on the way out. Sure, the fact that these amateurs had captured me bothered me, but I justified it with the fact that it had been three-to-one and they had Tai Chi Cards with them. Even having my arms suspending didn't really waver me; to be honest, when I put my feet flat on the floor and leaned my body forward, it was actually somewhat comfy and I found myself stretching out my body to get out all of the stiffness that the cold and rain had tangled up in my muscles.

Really, I was as far as could be away from my closest worry. The thing that only stuck into my mind was the Dragonoids. If they had figured out how badly I screwed up, not only failing to deliver the Card but getting myself captured in the process, they'd whip my behind before I could give a single excuse. _No_, my mind corrected, a certain firmness in my psyche's voice that I recognized, _they wouldn't care about how I got caught, only that I didn't get them the Card. They don't care what happens to me._

The reality didn't hurt me; it wasn't as though I _wanted_ to be accepted by them. Just one night on a mission was all I desired. I was indifferent to whether or not I returned to the Luthdrake from where I was deployed, from my home at Suhn, where I hadn't been for what felt like forever. All I wanted to do was deliver the Card, take a bow, and be able to say, "Catchya later." But really, never seeing the faces of those Dragonoids again was my one true desire.

My magenta-colored eyes trailed over to the Tai Chi Card in my fingers, despite that the darkness prevented me from seeing it. Instantly the face of that impassive boy, Finn if I remembered correctly, materialized in my mind. I couldn't focus on his cold eyes; not only did they frighten me with their frigid hue, but they weren't of my main concern. My attention focused the cut on his cheek I made with the edge of the Card. The motions of my desperation replayed in my mind, how my mouth opened for only silence to come out and my arm slashed out with the Card in my fingers like a hand blade before I dropped backwards out of the tree. For that split-second preceding my fall, I had caught glimpse of his face.

I didn't know exactly what I saw. It didn't seem like I had caught him off-guard, but at that instant, it hadn't seemed as though he had retained that solid mask as well as I assumed he thought he could, either. I was certain I saw_ something._ What it was, that I wasn't sure of. _I have to analyze him_, I figured, chewing on my lip absent-mindedly. I felt as though I had everyone else all figured out well enough, that Rai-kid the easiest to piece together, but something about that dark-haired boy was just _off_.

Finding myself shaking my head to get the plaguing thoughts out, boredom began to take hold of me. There wasn't much I could do at this point, except try and sleep. It wasn't a bad idea, I decided, but I was too awake to doze off. The cold rain that succeeded with soaking my clothes was making me involuntarily shiver and sending chills down my spine one after another. It was the middle of the night, maybe the early morning, but it felt as though rest was far away and I was running after it, desperate to clutch it into a tight embrace.

Darkness was all around me, a blanket of ice draped over my shoulders. Now was when I wished that my legs were secured instead of my arms, so that I could take off my hoodie that was heavy from absorbing so much rain. _Ugh, I'm so stupid…_ I narrowed my eyes at myself, wishing I could hold myself to get just a little warmer, _I can't believe all of this happened in one night, all because of some stupid kids. And I can't even physically swear at myself to relieve this frustration…_

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_My feet pattered down the sidewalk, carrying me along almost too fast for the rest of me to keep up. A big grin was plastered onto the curves of my round face and my fingers were curled around a roll of construction paper. My backpack was hanging off one shoulder, bumping into my back with every hasty step I took. I was tired from running all the way home from school, but that was no matter to me. I had too good of a day to be bothered._

_I came to the front door of my house, bursting through and beginning my words with distinct notes of cheerfulness, "Mama! Mama! Look what I did today at school!" My words escaped just as I began to unroll my paper, the fruits of the work I had taken my time during the day to complete. It was merely three stick figures, my parents and I, all holding hands and smiling. The background was grass, a bright blue sky, and a smiling sunshine. Sloppy to the critical eye, but a masterpiece to a young child. "Mama!"_

_A silence surrounded me, and while pulling off my shoes and dropping my backpack, I called out again. "Mama!" _

_I came to the next room, looking about, my drawing tight in my fingers. "Mama?" I knew she had to be there. The door was unlocked and she was always home to greet me after coming home every day, an afternoon snack all prepared in the kitchen for me, and I decided to go in there to see if she was busy making me something to eat. Sometimes she could grow preoccupied with her tasks and block out the world around her, and I figured this is just what happened. Going into the kitchen, I saw neither a plate of food ready for me, nor my mother. I hadn't ever been home alone before, as my parents never saw me fit for it, with my age and small size, so this made me question the situation._

_And it made me scared. My heartbeat had risen even more so than it had when I was running, now to the point where it echoed in my ears. Maybe she was taking a nap, I reasoned, beginning to make my way to the bedroom. The floor creaked under me, and beyond it, I could only hear a small gasping sound. Suddenly the hallway seemed so much longer, so much darker, and I could only find myself walking forward without a way to turn back. _

"_Ma-Mama?" My voice had risen to an unfamiliar, high key, and I could feel my hands shaking at my sides. My eyes latched onto the bedroom door before me, and I proceeded with my heart in my mouth. The door was slightly ajar, I realized, but not enough to see, so against my better judgment, I pushed it open a few inches more to peek within._

_The hinges squeaked. _

_My drawing fell from my fingers and dropped to the floor._

"_If you say a single word, Ara, I swear I'll kill you."_

I wasn't exactly sure how long it took me to doze, but it only felt like an instant between the silent blackness and the activity of the day. The first thing I was aware of was the closing of one of the two doors in my little hallway-room, jolting me awake in an instant and sending me into temporary confusion. My eyes swiftly shot around as I regained my composure, realizing that the heftier guy had entered, that the world I was in had disappeared into nothingness. He seemed to be all smiles as he approached me, carrying what seemed to be a small tray of food. _Why…?_

"Rise and shine! Breakfast is here!" As he drew nearer, I confirmed he had food by the sight and smell of it. "Even though you gave my friends a hard time last night, that's no reason for you to starve," he stated as-a-matter-of-factly, causing me to give him a blank look to which he quickly responded, "I don't think I introduced myself last night. My name is Donha. And you are?"

Silent to his innocent question, I scanned him up and down to memorize him as a Tigeroid. He was clad in a jumpsuit that was hued mostly with shades of blue that went up to his neck. His hair was a sort of green that was spiked up a few inches and his irises matched in color. Reading his face, it seemed like he meant well with his gesture of giving me something to eat, but, my eyes dropping down to the tray, I couldn't take my chances. My lips pursed tight and I turned my head away to refute.

My eyes shut and I only listened to his words, "That's alright. You don't have to talk now if you don't want to. It's still early, and Rai's the one cooking lunch today, so I'm sure you'll have plenty to complain about later." The silence that I let enter the room drove him to say more. "The guys tied you up in a quite uncomfortable way. I hope you slept all right."

I broke through the skin on my bottom lip with my teeth and instantly tasted blood, but I didn't feel the sting of the opened skin. I was too plagued by the pain burning within me. _I told myself I'd become numb to this. It doesn't matter anymore. That was then, this is now…_ I felt the coldness of a tear slip down the side of my face. _Mama…_


	3. Part Three

**.Author's Note. Wow, this surprised the crap outta me. I started writing this chapter while watching the Olympics just about six hours ago, just for no reason, and I had no idea that I was going to finish it. My muse must've really decided to work for me today, because this has gotta be a record for me (despite that my parts in this fic are pretty short in comparison to my other fics).**

**Alright, so I was very surprised to see the fanfiction count for Tai Chi Chasers go up so much since I published this story. Sure, it's not very high right now, but at least five fanfics were added since I posted Part One. I'll just go along with the idea that I inspire people *cough*don'tmindmyego*cough*  
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**Anyway, onto the more important crap here. I've got this fic outlined in my head pretty well at this point. I have a plot (not much of one, a little dissatisfying, but no less, a plot) and decided this will probably be one of my shortest fics, being about six parts or so, maybe more. It all depends on how my pacing is and how lazy I am *shot'd*  
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**But as a consolation, I am planning on finishing this. I'll change the summary to this story so it doesn't say that stuff about it being a teaser and classify it as one of my active fanfics.  
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**Oh yes, and I apologize if this chapter is a little blah. I tried to add a couple of events, but right at this point, it's all character bonding stuff. And I also realized because of this that Rai is my personal punching bag in this franchise.  
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**I hope you enjoy my writing! Even though it really didn't take me long to throw together! R&R please, loves! :)  
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All of my instincts pounded into me for the last several years suddenly felt meaningless. I couldn't recall the last time I had cried, forget when I last cried in front of another person. Showing emotion was weakness. Had one of the Dragonoids seen me in my distraught state, I would've been lucky if all I received were harsh words and a hard smack to the face. I represented the Dragonoids, whether I belonged with them or not, and right then, I was shaming them to no end.

When that boy, Donha, tried to console me and find out what was wrong, all my remaining composure told me to look off, away from him, and onto the wall to my left. I attempted to ignore his voice by staring hard at the door like I expected it to spontaneously combust under my gaze. I wouldn't have paid any mind if it decided to or not; nothing was about to pull me away from the turmoil now pending within my head like a consuming fire.

I wanted so desperately to scream. My mouth opened on its own, but it felt like the air was constricting my throat, trying to strangle and choke me out of sheer ridicule. Dragonoid force was pressing down upon me like a lead weight; they wouldn't permit me from showing any weakness. Even my own conscience, imprinted with the strict regulations of my superiors, betrayed me.

It took a moment longer than what should've been necessary for me to realize the door I was staring at had opened and Sena was approaching. Now with full light to see her face, I could clearly see how uptight by nature she really was. She had a hand put onto her hip as she told her fellow Tigeroid, not glancing at me once as if she didn't even realize I was there, "Donha, we've located another Tai Chi Card. I'm sending you and Tori to retrieve it. If you need backup, let us know. Rai is already mad that he wasn't selected to go."

He glanced down at the tray of food that I had silently refused. "All right. Make sure she eats something, okay? No need for her to starve." He gave me a smile to which I didn't respond and handed the brown-haired girl the tray before exiting.

She gave me a look that I couldn't read. "Now I have to feed you? It's like the chores never end here." _Yeah, it's good to see you too._ "These are the menial jobs that should be given to Rai." She groaned and set the tray down onto the floor. Her eyes scanned me up and down, but not with a critical, piercing glare that I was used to, more like slightly pleased with my appearance. "You have such pretty hair," she noted, touching the locks that went down my back. I thought originally that I mistook it, but then I realized my sight wasn't lying. She was smiling. She wasn't faking her compliment.

_Why is _she_ being nice to me? She's nothing but an enemy._ I gave her a scowl, revealing my dislike for her touching me. My body stiffened, my nerves all at once rigid. My mind clicked to the way her fingers strained through my hair. There was only one person that ever stroked it in that same manner. _Mama…_ I snapped my head off to the side, swishing my hair from her fingers, and suppressed a sniffle. _I am _not_ going to cry. I refuse. I was caught off-guard last time, that's all. I'm strong._

She huffed at my attitude and took a step away from me, her arms crossed across her chest. "You give me a cold shoulder for giving you a compliment. That's really polite, you know that?" Her mouth curved downward, her russet eyes tightening. I was apparently pretty good at annoying people. "It's obvious I'm not wanted here. Besides, I didn't wanna stay here with you anyway." She turned on her heels, annoyance coming off her figure like a distinct wave, and left the room.

My eyes remained on where she had disappeared. She hadn't closed the door, but that didn't really help me if I wasn't really able to walk through it. I averted my gaze to the floor and directed to the sight of the abandoned of platter of food. My stomach rumbled and saliva gathered in my mouth, despite my previous decision I wouldn't eat for the chance they poisoned it or something. _It's just sitting there, mocking me. It knows it was supposed to be mine…_

I glowered at it in discouragement. It wasn't that far from me and covered with all sorts of food I hadn't ever received with the Dragonoids. I extended my leg, pointing my foot toward it. The tip of my shoe tapped it lightly and rattled the food upon it. An orange fell off with a slight thud and rolled towards me. Tapping it in my direction, I secured it between my feet. I stared down at it, blinking in my situation.

…_Now what?_

The fact that I hadn't added in the fact that I had no way of getting it to my mouth into my calculations made me feel nothing but more hunger mixed in with a bit of humiliation. This was one of my many failures in the past twenty-four hours, and probably the most degrading. _Just as long as that Rai-kid doesn't walk in and see me staring down at it like I'm expecting it to grow a face and talk to me, I'll be just fi—_

"What are you doing?" _Crap._

My head rose so that I could lock gazes with him, my eyes narrowed, his showing a little bit of confusion. He merely stood in the doorway looking at me like he actually expected me to answer his question. At least for once he didn't seem _completely _irritated. _Maybe that'll make him a little bit more tolerable…_ "If this is how your parents taught you to peel an orange, then I think you should turn to apples instead." _Oh yeah, you're so funny. So funny I forgot to laugh._

But then as I let the moment set in a little bit, I realized that I had a small smile set onto my face in reaction to his oh-so clever remark. _Wait, what? That wasn't even funny; why am I smiling?_ It instantly morphed into a flat-mouthed expression before he could detect it. Or at least I hoped he didn't catch it. _No need for him to get the satisfaction and become even cockier than he already is. Otherwise they might need a bigger airship for his head to fit on board. _

He didn't say anything as he walked over to pick up the tray of food. _My _food.

I got defensive, throwing on a glare that I didn't care if he saw or not, and kicked up the orange with my foot, making it airborne, and struck it with the side of my shoe all in one, fluid maneuver. I heard the delightful sound and saw the amusing sight of the piece of fruit whacking him in the head.

If I could've, I would've snickered, but I couldn't, so I just sufficed with a dominate smirk put upon my lips. The face of sheer evil atop his neck probably would've terrified me in any other case, yet in this one, I was too busy mocking him with my eyes. Words would've helped this derision along, but I was perfectly content without them at this point. Hitting someone with an orange was pretty satisfying, no matter if you could vocally laugh at them or not.

His face turned bright red at the open degradation. He spun around so he wouldn't have to face me with his embarrassment totally visible before scoffing, seemingly clueless on a proper comeback to my latest action, "I don't like…you." _Yup, totally clueless._ He closed his eyes and his head turned slightly back towards me, a slight blush still on his face, "You know, I was actually gonna give you this food—only 'cause Sena was making me. She's so bossy sometimes, and when I say sometimes, I mean all the time—but now I don't think I wanna give it to you."

As he did slightly less than stomp out of the room, I only stared at his back as he drew away, my mouth slightly agape at what he had just said. _For that split-second, was he actually about to be nice to me?_ My stomach crying out for food interrupted my thoughts and put them onto an entirely different level. _And he was gonna feed me too! Craaap!_

* * *

I wasn't sure how much time passed, but it felt like an eternity. The only thing that really happened was…well, nothing. Once I had seen Finn pass through my little room-hallway-thing, paying no mind to me as if seeing some chick bound to the ceiling by ropes was a normal scene for him and going about his business. Quite frankly, I really wouldn't really put it past this lot of kids that they hadn't been in a situation that the dark-haired boy had seen a circumstance like mine, but he was just so emotionless about the entire thing. It was as though my existence was unknown to him. _Am I really that insignificant to him that he barely even seems to realize I'm alive?_

A thankfulness had washed over me when he had passed by that I wasn't able to see his eyes from my position. They disturbed me far too much to give me any other feeling, let alone a feeling that would be in any way positive; that cold aura that came off of his form didn't help convince me he was the ideal guy, either. The way that he was just so blank no matter the case astounded me to no end. He was just so different from the others, in a way that I couldn't put my finger on.

Although, I had to digress about that matter. I crossed over that topic far too often to be healthy. I had to keep on the thought that Finn and I were both _far_ better off without me analyzing him up and down every time that I saw him. That was the best approach here, I knew.

But now with my stomach threatening to rebel against me and start a war with my sanity, I regretted hitting Rai with that orange. Sure, the redhead clearly had it coming, but my timing could've been a little different. That was my one mistake. And I wasn't about to beg him to feed me, even if he bothered coming back through here any time soon; my dignity wouldn't allow such a thing, even if my selective mutism did. I refused to drop down from that pedestal that I claimed for myself and carved my name into, because if I did, in a single instant that stupid kid would be slightly higher on the food chain than me. I would've rathered be forced to deal with Finn's eyes in a staring contest than declare myself lower than Rai.

The amount that I cared about this surprised me. I could openly admit to myself that I had my share of pride and self-worth, despite how much the Dragonoids tried to suck it out of me in a way to make me submit to their commands and authority, but this was beginning to confuse me. Maybe it was because that Rai and I had made everything between us some sort of battle, maybe that was why I cared so much. I _hated_ losing. The whole concept of someone that I should've beaten succeeding aggravated me to no end.

_That's what it is_. I nodded to myself, putting on the tiniest of smiles on my face in satisfaction that I had figured it all out and it made perfect sense to me. _It's because we're rivals. Even though I could beat him at everything except a stupidity contest hands-down, on some stupid playing field, we concocted some sort of competition._ That idea pleased me for a reason I knew not of. _Rivals…_

As I was wallowing in my contentment of my most recent revelation, my ears caught the sound of voices approaching. The upward curve of my lips drooped back down. As the voices grew louder, I distinguished Sena's from the others, hearing a few of her words, "…this is where she's being kept, Komorka. I…"

The door swung open and the brown-eyed girl I had heard stepped in, along with the rest of the Tigeroids (Rai not seeming so pleased to be here) an old woman. She had a rather soft face, dark, calming eyes, and gray hair hidden under the hood of a brownish-colored cloak. In one hand, she held herself in balance with a cane. I assumed that this was who Sena had referred to as Komorka. Her voice was gentle and startled me when she spoke. Her words weren't in response to something Sena had said; they were to me. "Ah, Ara, I knew you'd make your way here to us eventually. I will say it's a pleasant surprise."

My eyes widened at her words, trying to figure out if I had actually heard her correctly. _How does she know my name?_

Rai had moved in a millisecond, suddenly facing the elderly woman because of her words, sounding aggravated at her phrasing. "_Pleasant_?! She's been everything _but_ pleasant the entire time! Just a little while ago, she hit me in the head with an orange!"

I heard a snicker at the remark, which I assumed came from Tori, and that triggered a couple more people to join in. Needless to say, Rai didn't appreciate that too much. But Komorka just merely looked upon the redheaded boy, a small smile on her face. "You must learn to look past outer masks, Rai. Because behind them, there's always a better person inside." To this, he merely crossed his arms, glanced at me for a half of an instant, and then turned his head away from me. "You just have to learn to be willing to open your eyes and see it."

A frown took over the vexed expression I once held. _How insightful. You don't have to make up crap to make it seem like you know there's someone different inside me just so Rai likes me. I'm perfectly content with our relationship as it is._ The word 'relationship' didn't seem to sit right with me, so I changed it as quickly as I could and dropped my head down with my eyes closed. _Well… our awkward bond of sorts._

"And besides..." Komorka's voice shifting notes opened my eyes again. My head began to rise back up as if it would help me better hear and understand her next words. "There's no reason to be rude to a fellow Tigeroid."


	4. Part Four

**.Author's Note. I'm back, my poppets, with another part in tow! This was one of my favorite chapters to write so far, just because it was pretty fun overall. It doesn't have as much plot substance as my other parts, but this one removes some of the seriousness that I've been kinda trapped in for the past while with this fic.**

**Uhh...I really don't have much to say, 'cept for that I don't own the song that's mentioned in here. Most people should know full well who's song it is.  
**

* * *

I stared with blank eyes as I watched their expressions morph into looks of complete surprise. It almost amused me to see them react so openly, but not to the point that I would've seen it. It didn't put a smirk on my face as it probably would have on usual occasions because I was too focused on what Komorka's words actually implied. _How does she know so much about me? This is getting so strange. I don't think I've even met her before in my life…_

She continued as if she hadn't even thought twice about the kids' reactions. And if she had thought twice, she decided to ignore them. "Now, please, untie her. There's no need to do such things to a friend; she's no threat to you."

That, to say in the simplest way, offended me. I glowered with my lips pressed together tightly, feeling insulted by how she put her words. _No threat?! I could kick any of these stupid kids' butts blindfolded! I'm the one person you don't wanna meet in a dark alley! Don't believe me? Then put your fists up and I'll show you first-hand! I could take Rai if he was multiplied sevenfold! And I am _not_ their friend! You'd have to pay me to get past the enemy level!_

One certain redhead didn't agree with the old woman, either. I could clearly see on the curves of his face just how much the last words of his elder were annoying him; I thought the blood vessel in his forehead was about to pop. "Friend?! I don't care if she's a Tigeroid—she's not any friend of mine!" He turned towards me and we glared daggers at each other, his fiery eyes against mine. At least our opinions toward each other were mutual on this aspect.

Komorka chuckled at our resentment that must have been extremely detectable to anyone that looked at us, seemingly well-entertained by our rather childish antics. "I have a feeling that you two will become good friends. You have the same spirit."

"And the same stubbornness," Sena added with a grin and what looked like a knowing expression that I didn't know the reasoning behind, at which we both snapped our faces away from each other in pure irritation. I could feel my face beginning to heat an unusual amount at the brunette's rather insulting remark. The fact that she was comparing me to the likes of him was the top reasoning that came into my mind. I was _nothing_ like _him_.

The Tigeroid elder didn't acknowledge the brunette's degrading words and just kept her soft eyes upon me. Instantly beyond my control, I felt my defensiveness decreasing. A part of me knew that she was in no way a potential risk to me if I believed her. After all, she seemed to be familiar with me and every aspect that made me. "Please release her if you will."

Rai paid no attention any longer, dismissing himself without any given warning out of the room aside from what seemed to be a not-so-subtle groan, while I was freed by the others of my bondage. My fingers gingerly touched my wrists, my hand that still held the Tai Chi Card tense and lacking much sensitivity. After a few words to Komorka that I didn't bother paying attention to, the Chasers left the room, leaving just the elder and me in silence.

Her expression remained unchanged, her face stoic but her eyes soft, as she merely gazed at me at what felt like a very long time and I just uncomfortably looked back. It felt to me that she was trying to tell me something without the use of words, but my mind just refused to tell me what that thing was. I knew it had to do something with how she knew me—that was overly obvious—but any connection that she may have had with my family was a total mystery to me.

A sudden smile startled me. Actually, for some reason beyond my knowledge, it scared me. There was nothing intimidating about it, but some little recognition within it that came from a root I knew not of frightened me. It had triggered something in the back of my mind and led me to look away. I started for the door, wishing to get away, and when I had my grasp on the doorknob, I caught ear of her voice from behind me, "You don't always have to be alone, Ara. Remember that not all Tigeroids are against you," and I left.

Upon exploration of the Tiger Airship, I realized it was really quite spacious and rather homey. Where I was held captive was rather close to what I figured was the bridge, an open, simple command center that was bright with the light flooding in through the countless windows that lined the walls. Looking out of them briefly, it wasn't hard to realize we were high into the air above Earth; I didn't care where we were, however, because there wasn't really much I could do about our location anyway.

I moved on in my journeying, moving about the hallways and peeking in the different rooms. When I opened a door to a bedroom, I realized I must've been in their sleeping quarters were. It was a rather simple bedroom with a bed, a desk, and a dresser in a corner. The room was void of any disarray whatsoever and the bed was neatly made without a single, visible wrinkle in the blankets, so I figured this room was currently uninhabited. I ran my fingertips along the soft covers and thought about how long it had been since I had slept in an actual bed. _A nap really couldn't hurt anything, but…_ I stared down at the Tai Chi Card in my hand, _I'll need to put this somewhere on my person so they can't take it when I'm sleeping._

None of my pockets would do, I figured, as putting it in one of them would be obvious, so I just shrugged, slipped it into my bra, and hoped that not even Rai was stupid enough to go for it there. That decided, I crawled under the warm blankets, snuggled my head into the feathery pillow, and began to nod off.

* * *

It took a few minutes when I roused to realize I really was seeing what I thought it was seeing. I squinted and rubbed my eyes a few times, but it still took a moment or two for my mind to click that Finn was towering over me and just staring down at me with his icy eyes, looking unimpressed. Apparently this was reason enough to finally talk to me after just giving me a deathly stare this entire time, and all he decided to say was, "You're in my bed."

I almost smiled as my mind made a response, _I'll slide over if you wanna join me._ But I figured that I was probably better off just leaving, so I noiselessly pushed the covers off me and got up. Beginning to stretch my arms, I knew he was watching me and my every move. _Wasn't my fault that I thought this room was uninhabited. _I frowned. _It's not like you have any habits that are even remotely human-like to show me that this room belongs to an actual person._ My neck turned and cracked, and from the angle, I could peer back, seeing the cold Tigeroid out of the very corner of my eye. He must've known I was watching him watching me, because I felt the chill of his irises meeting mine in locked gaze.

_What is up with him?_

My eyes narrowed, but neither one of us removed our stares from the other. A long silence ensued and both of us didn't move. His face was hard and almost completely expressionless, but his eyes were flaring like they had suddenly burst from their death-like state into a vivid life. Was he actually capable of feeling? This thought seemed more unnerving than the fact that I had accepted prior that he had no emotions to be shown because that meant I was underestimating him and his abilities. He clearly didn't trust me—I wouldn't either if I was him—and so I couldn't be certain what he was going to do. Because, as I had deducted when I first laid eyes on him, he didn't appear at all afraid to hurt me.

But I wasn't about to let him. In fact, I was getting pretty cocky at this point. I turned my entire face toward him, smiled smugly, and stuck out my tongue at him. _Can't touch this_, I said with my eyes before striding out of the room. Closing the door behind me, I pressed my ear to it and listened for the sound of him nearing. I heard only silence, and it was about then that I realized that he was skilled enough to walk without a sound, so it was pretty demeaning for me to do so.

Shrugging, I carried on in my venturing around. There was a door at the very end of the hall that caught my attention. I figured since it was where the hall led to that it was a door to a different wing of the airship. Maybe if I was lucky I would eventually stumble across the galley where they stored all the food. I had no idea what time it was because my internal clock was all screwed up, but my stomach told me it was time to look for something to eat.

So I proceeded to that room and when I had my fingers on the knob to open it, I thought I had heard someone talking from inside. I opened the door slowly to prevent my presence to be known and when it was open wide enough that I was just standing there in the doorway, my eyes widened at the sight and my mouth opened at a very deranged angle. Things had suddenly taken a turn for the weird.

What I had entered was another bedroom (a bit messier than the room I was in prior, so I knew there was an actual, normal human here), and for the fact that Rai was in there, I figured it was his (so much for normal human). He didn't notice me just watching him, as he was too busy standing in front of the mirror, running his fingers through his untamed bangs, and saying to himself with a snaggletooth grin, "Hey there, Sexy…" _Well then. Someone's got ego…or something._

Oh yeah, he was also shirtless.

I crossed my arms and leaned against the doorframe, waiting, actually curious to see what he was gonna do. I kind of got an idea as soon as I saw him click the play button on a stereo. Music began to play and he just stood there bobbing his head and tapping his foot to the beat, like he was actually counting time for him to join in on it. He let the first verse and the bridge pass on by, keeping his cool, and then it came to the point of no return…

"_I'm sexy and I know it._"

Seeing him bust a move and dance to _that_ made my eyes want to melt. I thought of leaving and pretending I wasn't scarred for life, but my body wouldn't budge. I wasn't sure what it was about this _thing_ going on before me, but I just couldn't look away. With every passing second, I was growing just that much more disturbed. I knew that Rai was one deranged guy, but this…this didn't even fit the word deranged anymore. It was on an entirely different level.

My thought: _Why, God, why?_

A part of me distinctly wanted to go blind. The other part of me agreed. Unfortunately, I didn't spot anything that I could gouge my eyes out with, but that was probably because I just couldn't rip my gaze from _him_ doing _that_ right in front of me to look for a sharp object.

Before I realized what exactly was going on, the music had stopped and Rai was yelling something that sounded a little profane at me. At this point, I was caught in too much of a daze to realize the fact that he was actually really, really angry with me. A good question would be why, but common sense told me it was probably the fact I'd been staring at him as he preformed his whole little spiel. And plus, he pretty much already hated me, so now wouldn't be a very smart time to stop.

My eyes trailed downward off his face and furrowed my brows at his lack of shirt. It wasn't as though he was chunky or too scrawny or anything, it was just the fact that he looked a little ridiculous getting in my face while wearing only his shorts. It was just impossible to take him seriously.

I grasped his shoulders and shoved him away from me, causing him to let loose a little, "Hey!" but I was too busy walking over to a little coffee table near his bed, snatching up a pen and paper, and writing. He turned and watched me in a little vexation, until his expression changed to annoyance once again when I showed him what I had written:

_Dude, put a shirt on._

_No one wants to see that._


	5. Part Five

**.Author's Note. I'm alive, kiddies! I'm sorry for the huuuuge delay, I've been stuck in this fic for quite a while and finally I sat down and forced myself to finish this part. I'm not sure just how long this is gonna end up being now; I had an outline sort of planned in my head, but this kinda defied it a little bit. **

**Anyway, at the very end, you learn of one of Ara's newly-developed quirks! I think it makes her kinda cute and I'll be certain to add something about it at the end of this fic. **

**So...uh, without further ado, enjoy part 5! =D**

* * *

Not sure how it happened, but before I knew it, Rai and I were on the floor, locked in hand-to-hand combat, trying to beat the crap outta each other (but before this occurring, he still somehow find time to throw a shirt on for whatever dumb reason he had). Okay, maybe I did know how it happened. I think it began about the time where I insulted his chest after seeing him dance to a very perverse song. Yeah, that sounded about right. And now here we were on the floor of his bedroom, getting physical—

Okay, I'll stop with that description. It sounds so wrong.

But anyway, it was about due time that I got my share of vengeance for his tackling me down when we first met. And I had been doing pretty well too, until he had gotten the smart-arsed idea to thrust me off from on top of him and I bashed the back of my head against his bed frame. I reached back with a cringe and with how much blood was dabbed on my fingers, I would've thought I had dipped them into a bucket of red paint. _Okay, that's it. I was gonna save some crap to kick outta you till later, but clearly you're asking for it._

I scrambled up into a crouch and then pounced on top of him again, trying to beat his face in, but only managing to get the blood from on my fingers onto his cheek. I refused to admit that he was actually putting up a decent fight, so resorted to repeatedly telling myself that I was just growing rash and making dumb moves without thinking them through prior. We'd been tossing each other to the floor for the past God knows how long and struggling to achieve something that I'm not completely certain either one of us knew what it was. All I knew was I wanted my share of butt-kicking and all of the crap in between now and that point was just necessity in some deranged way or another.

In the midst of our brawl, I had somehow caught eye of a small coffee table nearby. On it was a tray a lot like the one they had brought to me that I had refused to eat from. Actually, I was pretty sure that _was_ the tray of food. _He has the nerve to eat _my _food?! _I almost growled at the thought and probably would've, had Rai not gotten a blow to my stomach and totally winded me. My body doubled over on me, despite my mental protests against such a thing, and I grasped my chest as if that would help anything.

My eyes moved about, looking from his eyes over to the tray. I lunged for it, for a reason that really wasn't clear to me at that particular moment—probably impulse stupidity—but somewhere in between my rash idea and my rash goal, Rai had somehow managed gotten it all to fail in a way that wasn't very clear to me for the fact that it had happened way too fast for my comprehension. So now, at this point, he had me pinned down. No fragment inside me could distinguish how time was moving at that point. Caught up in the midst of our hard breathing and the death glares that passed between us like gunfire, all other motion around us had ceased.

I furrowed my brows. It was like time itself at frozen in place, and with every nonexistent moment, I was feeling more and more claustrophobic. But I was caught and he was practically breathing down my neck, so it was completely clear he had the upper hand and anything he didn't want to fly wouldn't. I resorted to merely giving him a hard stare, trying to pass words with my eyes. _You really don't know how much I hate you right now. What do you honestly think you're going to achieve by pinning me down?_

My legs squirmed uneasily, and my gaze shot away from him with a simple turn of my neck, trying to ignore the pain plaguing the back of my head. My cheek rested against the cool floorboards as his voice rang hard from the lack of distance between his mouth and my ear, "Now's probably a good time to apologize for being so rude." His smugness annoyed me in a millisecond; well, if I hadn't been annoyed before he began to blab, that is. "So spit it out; you're in no position to refuse."

My gaze shot back in a rigid physiognomy, casting back a demand by simple mouthing the words I couldn't vocalize, _How about I don't?_

It seemed like he was about to make a sort of response to my affront, judging by how his face was twisted about, but in a millisecond, his expression morphed into a look that showed more scrutiny than anything. A long epoch ensued, and so in exchange, I began to analyze him back, my mouth curved downward into a hard frown, but my mind spiraling in vexation. _What does he think he's doing? Moron probably forgot what he was doing before he could even do it. _

He really began to confuse me when he removed one hand that was pinning of my arms and reached closer to my face. My whole body went stiff and hard as his fingers ran mere inches from my cheek, through my hair, and back to where the gash had been made on the back of my head. His fingertips just barely touched it—I knew he could feel warm, fresh blood—when I snapped my fist around the collar of his shirt, and flung him off of me to the floor, my eyes contorting and beginning to rave over and over. _Don't touch me. Never touch me._

I was in a crouch in an instant. Light-headedness began to sink in from my quick ascension, so I wavered on my toes, but did not forget my intention. As Rai began to compose himself, his face livid with frustration, I reached for an apple on the tray, and having grabbed it, retreated onto the redhead's unmade bed. As soon as I bit into the red fruit, instantly my whole body rejoiced with gratitude. My memory failed me as to recall the last time I indulged on fresh fruit, but the feelings I received from it made me completely brush off the fact that I rendered myself completely vulnerable. My logic was rather simple and maybe a little less than plausible: Who would attack someone while they're _eating_?

And most surprisingly, my logic wasn't erred. I think I had caught him so far off-guard that he wasn't sure what to do. My eyes flashing up from under my eyelids, I caught him watching me in hardly anything but vexation. A fixation between us struck with a hard cord and I pulled the apple away from my lips. My head turned aside slightly, curious and expecting something I knew not of. I pulled my eyes up and down him, from his face down to his shoes and back upwards again, as if I was searching for something I hadn't noticed prior.

His face revealed he was scrutinizing me and my latest action. Beyond the wide-eyed confusion was a contorted bend to his mouth, which didn't move even as he suddenly questioned, his tone as level as I'd ever heard it, "Wait, is that what…" His gaze locked on the fruit in my hand. "…what you wanted?"

At least this proved to me that his logic wasn't too far gone that I had to give him a 'duh' look for every single thing he hypothesized. Instead of giving any signal of his correct inquiry, I took another bite of the apple and became caught up with its sweet, sweet freshness. This was one aspect of this place that I could actually grow to like. The Tigeroids here…not so much. But these thoughts went un-gestured by me, too involved with my apple and too guarded as Rai continued to watch me as if I'd suddenly spring from my place and attack the exact moment that it seemed like I wouldn't.

But I did no such thing and his expression mellowed out. For the first time since I'd first become acquainted with him and his…himness, he didn't hold impending rage when looking directly at me, and for some dumb reason, the same thing applied with me to him. Maybe it was the sugar in the apple, but something inside didn't mind him standing there as long as he didn't try to attack me again or got on my nerves or anything of that sort. _Yeah,_ I decided after staring at his face enough to realize just how dumb he looked, _definitely the apple. _

And this made curiosity hit me a little bit. I fidgeted in my place, my eyes trained to see any changes coming from his direction, and went up from my position into a crouch. _I wonder what he's thinking about; he's not doing anything_… I moved further, making my way back off of the bed until I was standing right before him. It was soundless and still, the sound of my heart beating the only thing caught within my ears. Just the awareness of such a pounding sent my mind reeling in vexation.

I began to back away, my brows beginning to pinch. I was far too bothered for my own comfort; everything was far too calm, far too away from reality. His analytic gaze penetrated outside bounds that all of a sudden sent me on edge. Further and further I retreated, causing his gaze to begin to scrutinize. The look he began to give me was almost like one he would've given me previous to his out-of-character stopping to calculate, and a part of me liked it much more than the expression that seemed so much more questioning and reasoned.

It, I believed, was because it was the signature look of my rival.

This thought pleased me unusually. In fact, it made me even a little cocky. Taking a few more bites from my apple, I decided I'd had enough and when my hand grabbed the edge of the door, with the other I threw the fruit with expertise precision. The exact moment I cheekily stuck out my tongue, it happened to ricochet off the side of his head. A little animalistic, yes, but quite effective, and it distracted him enough for me to dart from the room, my own personal humor in tow.

My imagination took hold as I traveled through the various corridors, envisioning what his face must've looked like when he'd fully come to realize what I had just pulled, and the mental image put a little smirk on my face. Regardless of that weird span of time that preceded my little stunt, I knew we were both better off with a bond more like this one. One where I'd do something to make him mad and he tried to kill me for it. It was just the joy of the chase that brought me much satisfaction. After all, he and I both knew full well I was better suited for this sort of instance then he was.

I went down a small flight of stairs that lead down to a rather ordinary door. I paused just before it and intently listened in, pressing my ear up to it. I didn't hear anything, so decided that it was safe enough to go in. My fingers gingerly turned the doorknob and I entered. Instantly I prayed that my eyes weren't deceiving me, that I actually was seeing crates and sacks and all sorts of things that I knew contained one thing in vast quantities and qualities.

Food.

The thought was almost too much to take. I was lucky to get three full meals back at the Luthdrake, much less of meals containing all different foods. And here, I knew, I could hit Rai with as many fruits as I pleased and still have plenty to spare.

An animal-like instinct took over and I couldn't have gotten over to the closest crate if I had teleported. My fingers dug into the tiny crack where the top connected to all of the adjacent sides and pulled for all I was worth. Unfortunately, even the rigorous training I'd gone through didn't give me enough strength to beat the nails holding the box together, so I resorted to much more violent measures. I readjusted my grasp, lifted the crate, and thrust it against the wall.

It was loud, but highly effective. The contents spilled out amongst the broken crate and its remains, and I was swift in approaching and kneeling down before it. But instead of diving into it as I envisioned myself moments before, I found myself staring down at it in confusion. There were many individual packets, thin and a little longer than the length of my hand. I picked one up and turned it around in my hands, wondering just what sort of food I'd discovered.

My eyes ran across its labeling and I read the smaller font under the brand's name. _Milk chocolate…? _I sat there scrutinizing it for a moment, feeling as though I'd seen such a label before. Slowly opening up the package and looking at the brown contents inside, something began to return to me. It was shaped in a rectangle with smaller rectangles making it up with its brand written in each of the small pieces. The smell was utterly delightful. It was full of recognition, like some time and place I had indulged in such a thing. _Back home? Is this something I had when I was little? _

Honestly, I was getting impatient with myself for trying to figure this out. So instead of attempting to bring back memories _before_ eating the thing in question, I halted my deliberation and took a big bite. I was instantly met with the taste of pure heaven. I had no idea something like this had even existed in the world and now was suddenly very glad all of this had played out the way I had, otherwise I wouldn't be able to indulge in this…chocolate-stuff.

_Wait._ My face-stuffing had ceased at what I had just thought and I just held the hunk of chocolate remaining in my hand as my eyes drifted off of it. _Glad for all of this happening? I'm not glad for all of _this_ crap. This is just one turn of events amongst all of these negatives. I hate it here; I want to get out of here… I do…I do… don't I? _

I put the chocolate up to my lips, but didn't take another bite, being too busy staring off in the distance. I had to weigh my options; for certain I wasn't going to go back to the Dragonoids—I decided that with my deliberations while tied up in that hallway—but that mere decision opened up so many other doors. And I had to admit, some of these doors seemed pretty appealing. Maybe I could live on Earth, pretend that there wasn't a shadowy past following me and I was just a normal human with a normal life. Maybe I could be a wanderer, hunting the Tai Chi Cards on my own and watching everyone that desired them chase me around in desperation. Maybe I could…

A part of me made me stop mid-thought, knowing just where I was going. My eyes peered back down at the chocolate bar in my hands; it had begun to melt and brownness covered my fingers. I took another bite and let it just melt in my mouth. It helped ease some of my nerves, making me realize that it was probably good that a group like this had plenty in stock since I was certain nerves could get high pursuing after so many Tai Chi Cards. And plus, they were like edible heaven.

I looked about after stuffing the rest of the bar into my mouth, making sure there was no one else in sight, and began to shove handfuls of the delightful sweets into all of my pockets. Whether I was staying or leaving, it'd be nice to have some good food with me. But I had only managed to snag a few bars when a voice snapped me from my stealing, "Oh, so that's where Sena's been hiding the chocolate! I was wondering where she was keeping it!"

My head shot up and locked on that small, blond boy—Tori, if I recalled correctly—just standing there by the door where I had previously entered and watching me. I had heard the phrase 'he looked just like a little kid on Christmas morning' once before, and I figured, since I didn't really know what was being implied, that this may just apply to that. He was just staring at the chocolate in my hands and on the floor like it was gold. And for all, I cared, it could've been.

"You're going to share, right?" He looked at me with expectant curiosity, his mouth an o-shape. The prescription in his glasses made his eyes seem slightly larger than they should've been, or if not, he was getting his puppy-begging-face ready.

I narrowed my eyes and swept the pile of chocolate towards me protectively. _If you want this chocolate, you're gonna have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands, Shorty._


	6. Part Six

**.Author's Note. Whew! Finally done! This part was a ton of fun to write and it was quite easy to type up too. Here we have the rising action, next part will be the climax. Here there's a lot of talking (like some more stuff about Ara's backstory), there's some fighting with Rai (which isn't really a surprise), and then the lead off to the next part, which hopefully will be as awesome as I envision it. **

**So I've figured out there's going to be a total of eight parts to this fanfic. Rather short, but I really need to get this project out of the way. So this one is number six! Two left! :)**

**So with that said, please enjoy part six! R&R please, my poppets~!**

* * *

"…So anyway, Sena hid the chocolate from the rest of us a while back. It's not fair because she's always scarfing it down and doesn't give us any!"

I narrowed my eyes. This kid didn't know who he was talking to, being all casual and honest without any sort of care in the world. I could've done any number of things to him before he could blink; it was what the Dragonoids trained me to be capable of. They made me study constantly, and those moments that I didn't have my head in a book would be when I was being forced through some sort of ridiculously-painful training session. Everything I did was either mentally or physically exhausting, if not both.

This caused me to scrutinize Tori an excessive amount. Surely he'd assumed the threat I was for the fact that he had seen me when I was tied pretty much to the ceiling, and you didn't do such a thing to just _anyone_, so if anything, it should've aroused a bit of suspicion in the very least. But still, here he was, chattering away about chocolate and Sena and the possibility she might get fat from eating too much and how Rai gets beat up every time he says something regarding that and and and—

Okay, this kid really knew how to chatter.

Seeing no other option, I forced myself to hand out a chocolate bar, hoping that it would make him shut up. Or at least occupy his mouth so he wasn't smiling so much. He instantly swiped it, tore the wrapper off, and began to indulge. I considered it a mission success because he was too busy trying to eat it as if he hadn't seen chocolate in God knows how long to talk. So with a bit of satisfaction that I wouldn't have to beat up a little kid, I too began to eat some of that oh-so beautiful chocolate.

We'd only been eating for a few moments of peace, the best peace I could possibly reach back and remember, when it was abruptly interrupted without the slightest warning. But honestly, I wasn't very surprised. Guess who.

"Hey, that's my chocolate!"

"Ha, finally found ya!"

_Crap, I'm being double-teamed…_ Despite my thoughts, I wasn't too bothered. After all, had Finn never showed up during my first encounter with these guys, I conceivably could've gotten away practically unscathed. Even then I could see just how rash Rai was and how stick-to-plan oriented that Sena was. Two people that really clashed with technique and were probably better off fighting separately than together, and that gave me distinct confidence that I could take them.

A grin escaped onto my lips, displaying a significant amount of smugness. Shoving the chocolate bars that were in my hands into my pockets, I poised myself with my options flashing within my mind. I looked to the left, then the right, taking in my surroundings in but a matter of a second. Turning back to Sena and Rai, the smirk still present, I couldn't resist the urge to stick out my tongue at them.

Their expressions that appeared just then were practically identical, but it was only Rai—which was only typical—that set into action. He pulled out his Activator and slashed a card through. "Tai Chi _Gum_! Sword!" A sword consisting of pure energy materialized in his hands and not a moment passed between its formation and when he lunged. His eyes were ignited, flashing with the vibrant reflection of the blade bright in his irises.

His uncalculated slashes were far too simple to dodge, the solution being simple bobbing and back-stepping. With each miss, he grew more and more frustrated. This only brought me more and more amusement as I continued my nimble evasion. I moved amongst the crates of food, thinking he'd _maybe_ slow down to calculate where he was swinging. But…of course not. In mere seconds, food and pieces of wood that once made up the crate were flying all about, causing Sena—who moments before had been trying to save whatever chocolate remained from Tori and my indulgences—to yell at him (well, more than she already was…) to watch what he was doing.

"I'm being as careful as I can!" he scoffed back, not for a second seeming like he believed his own words. He didn't even bother batting a single eye in her direction, just trying to achieve whatever the heck he was going for. Whatever it was, he wasn't doing it right.

I backed up against a thick, wooden column, grinning at him, albeit a little tired from hopping around. I ducked when that increasingly-familiar sword came my way and only continued my silent mockery when the blade got stuck in the wood. He _really_ could've planned that better.

When I moved out of the way, he tried to pry it out, irritated that the dumbest mistake just caused something so humiliated. "I'm not finished with you yet!" he growled through clenched teeth, just as he got his legs into the action of getting his sword unstuck, using them to push against the pillar as he pulled with both hands. "Just…wait as sec!"

Slightly willing to humor him, I stopped in my tracks and pulled out a chocolate bar. I took a bite of it and let it melt in my mouth. Instantly I got an idea that he _wasn't_ going to like. With the chocolate like liquid on my tongue, I put my finger into my mouth and pulled it out, covered in a crude mixture of half chocolate and half saliva. Grinning uncontrollably, I reached over to him, my finger out, and put a big, brown mark across his forehead.

The look he gave me was a manifestation of Death itself.

"Ara, you're gonna pay for that!" He instantly stopped caring about the _Gum_ sword of which he still didn't manage to pull loose and took this as another chance to pull out his Activator again. His face was so red that I thought he was going to pop. "Tai Chi _Hwa_! Fire!—"

Sena tried to cut in with, "Rai, think about what you're doing! Do you wanna blow up the _entire_ _ship_?!" but it fell on deaf ears.

"—and Tai Chi _Po_! Aggressive! Making Tai Chi _Pak_! Explosion!" With that look in his eyes, I knew exactly what he was aiming at. And whether or not he was going to have the attack under control, I was still pretty screwed if I just stood there.

So I did the best thing possible: Turned and ran. I opened the door and slammed it behind me just as I felt the impact of the attack collide with it, nearly pulling it off its hinges. He must've done pretty well in having it controlled, which surprised the heck outta me, but left me still no less grateful. Even as I began down the hallway in an unnecessary run, I could hear Sena beginning to scold him that the heat of the attack melted all the chocolate (with Tori adding that it meant none of the rest of them got any chocolate, either). As if _that_ was the least of her worries.

When I turned the corner, I found myself bashing into someone and falling back on my rear. Looking up, I met dark, cold eyes. _Yeah, _I thought with a scrutinizing expression_, as if his expression would be any different._ I picked myself up—Finn sure wasn't about to help me, that was certain—and we exchanged nonchalant looks. I wanted to say that I was getting over the chill of his penetrating gaze, but I wasn't. Those deep, abyss-like orbs never once ceased to send my nerves reeling, but at the same time, there was something highly remarkable about them. I couldn't put a single, chocolate-coated finger on it, but within his irises existed something very entrancing—they had an aura like the eyes of a doll.

I brushed past the peculiar Tigeroid and continued on, my pace a bit slower than the run I had been in previously. My eyes scanned about, looking at the things here I hadn't already seen. The Tigeroid Airship seemed to be a rather comfortable place, set up much in a home sort of setting, and it was so light in every corner. It brought me back to a time I didn't like to return to, knowing how it had all come to such an ending. I could see the uncanny resemblance of this place and my own home at Suhn, but yet, in its own way, this airship brought forth new, foreign sensations.

Coming to a rather unfamiliar hall, I paused. There was nothing but a single door at the end of it, a rather ominous door that seemed to be trying to draw me in. Curiosity wasn't helping me resist any, so I found myself proceeding toward it. Before I knew it, I had already turned the doorknob and let myself inside. The room it revealed was rather dark, and in the center of it was that Tigeroid elder—Komorka, if I recalled correctly—sitting in a fairly large chair with a cup of tea in her hand.

She smiled at my arrival, but didn't seem surprised that I had popped by. "Welcome, Ara." She saw me back up slightly, and her gentle eyes only watched me. "You don't have to leave. Please, join me. I'm sure there's much you would like explained." The sincerity in her gaze was comforting and gestured me closer to listen to what she had to tell me. "It's been so long since I've seen you last. You've grown so much. You have your father's hair and your mother's eyes. I can see so much of both of them in you."

A frown made itself at home on my face at the remark, but my lips still remained pursed. I wished I could've said the thoughts that appeared instantly within my mind. _I'm nothing like my father. I don't have any desire to be like that man._

Komorka noticed the tight gaze I now beheld and took the moment to interpret my mien with counteracting words, "You cannot forget how much your father loved you. The man he truly was deep down was noble and had a caring heart. He was a wise man, wise beyond his years, and I can recall what fiery determination he possessed when he was your age. I watched as that boy became a gallant warrior." Her eyes softened and became slightly melancholy. "But sometimes one cannot control what he becomes…"

Her words felt like all lies to me. None of these things added up to the father that had imprinted himself into my mind. That last, branded image was all my mind could conjure up. And his words. Those hard, austere words. "_If you say a single word, Ara, I swear I'll kill you._"

The memory racked up and down my being, a shudder uncontrollably escaping. Nothing could take back what I had seen. Every emotion I had felt still lingered within me; I could still recall the feeling of complete terror and vexation as I pattered up the stairs to my bedroom to lock myself inside. The motions of my younger self were all-too clear; hiding in the very corner of my room, fearing he would come up after me, the tears like ice cold razors down my cheeks, hearing the front door slam and being encased in that agonizing silence that followed—

_No._ I had to stop myself. I couldn't go back over that again; it was a wound I wanted to callus over. From the time that I came into full realization what had fully come to being, I had sworn never to tread upon that path again. I'd be the very thing that my father wasn't. I'd be strong, independent, unbreakable; and I wouldn't have to conceal my problems within a bottle.

Suddenly I felt the need to sit. I dropped down, my fingers dropping down to feel the cool floor under them. It was a support that I needed. The realities were conflicting—the one I knew all-too well and the one that Komorka had illustrated. I could almost reach out and touch what my memories told me to be true, yet at the same time, there was something within the Tigeroid elder's voice that beckoned me to accept her words instead.

"You don't need to turn your back on others because of the deeds he has done," she said, breaking the silence that had set in. "No matter if you admit it or not, I can see the bonds you've forged with the Tai Chi Chasers. You're still resolving your differences, but underneath, I can see friendships forming." She smiled without any given reason, a notion that took me by slight surprise. It almost seemed as though she was going to laugh. "You have your own ways of showing affection, I see, especially to one Tigeroid in _particular_."

My face ignited and even in the dim lighting, I was pretty sure it was noticeably glowing. _What does she mean by _that_? And what was with that added emphasis with that last part?_ Even though the astonishment of her statement was still very evident on my face with my wide eyes, I felt a scowl set in to accompany it. _…I don't think friendship is quite the right word for this…_

Instantly the face of Rai appeared in my head, his expression annoyed as we locked eyes. It was how I thought of him, our rivalry causing such a static between us. But then it morphed into that expression that he held when we were in his room, fighting it out to pin each other down. When he looked no longer irritated, but more _curious_. I didn't know the meaning of that look he gave me and the look that I had returned in exchange, but it suddenly made another thought of him materialize. His words reverberated in my mind, echoing repeatedly, "_Ara, you're gonna pay for that! You're gonna pay… Ara…Ara…_"

It sporadically came upon me. _Ara._ The way my name sounded on his tongue sounded new and triggered an epiphany on my part. _From that one time that Komorka had said my name, he remembered it…_

I didn't know how I felt by the revelation, but I didn't have time to think it over before Komorka continued, "You have reached an understanding with each other. They realize that you will not be of any harm to them. Why else would they have stopped seeking the Tai Chi Card that you possess?" Her eyes were cryptic, seeming to say something beyond the words that she physically voiced, driving me to pull out the Tai Chi Card that I had hidden. "No matter what you may believe, they trust you…"

In the darkness, I stared at the print on its surface. The original association of how breath is visible in winter came back to me when I looked upon _Ki_, the Breath Tai Chi. Just looking at its design stirred something I knew not of within me. It was a feeling that I couldn't begin to describe for its great immensity and ever-changing sensations.

But then, the air around us changed with the nearly deafening sound of an explosion. The entire ship shook violently, throwing me out of my position and onto my side. My heart leapt up into my mouth, beating with rapid, unchanging rhythm. I looked to Komorka, righting myself and getting up to my feet, and saw her stern, expressionless eyes that confirmed the suspicions that instantly came to my mind. _…The Dragonoids are here…_


	7. Part Seven

**.A/N. Whew a loooong chapter! But I'm so glad I got this done FINALLY! This was so much fun to write because there was just so much to do with this one and even though it was a pain in the butt to get in order because everything had to flow and I kept changing ideas, it makes me really happy to have these ideas in here. I also got an idea request from Alumina, a good friend of mine and a close follower of this fanfiction, which I was able to put in. **

**So this is the second to last part in this fanfic! The next part will be my final part and I really can't believe that I managed to pull a full fanfic out of one little teaser. And it's actually got CLIMAX! *gasp* Yeah, that's the most surprising part, although the climax is only this part. But I hope you guys really enjoy it regardless. **

**Anyway, with all of this said, here is part SEVEN! R&R, my poppets~! :)**

* * *

As the entire ship trembled, I was sent onto the very edge of my emotions. My eyes flashed down to the Tai Chi Card in my hand, and knew that's what they wanted. They weren't coming to retrieve me; they weren't here to make sure I was all right. No, all they desired was that stupid piece of paper that looked nothing more than a trading card. I was disposable to them; I knew it as well as they did, as they never once tried to hide the fact from me. I was only there as consequence of my father's selfishness.

My jaw grew tight, my instincts whirling about in a confused mass. The rumbling that sent the ship into a tremulous motion went up my legs, sending my whole enmity into a rigid state. I couldn't tell if it was the shaking of the ship or my own that I was trying to cease, nor was I going to think over the matter. I had much more important things taking over my mind. I couldn't deny the thought that kept me from going into distinct action; it was plaguing me, keeping my feet in place and my eyes from seeing anything outside my body. I was trapped within my own mind, one single concept revolving about in captivating motion.

There was one thing I knew for certain:

_I have to fight._

Any more than that I wasn't sure. To fight with the Dragonoids was to betray my oath I had those years ago, when I had spoke those words of promise to myself that I wouldn't turn back when I found my escape, yet to fight with the Tigeroids was to attach myself to them and get far more involved than I desired… My eyes peered over to Komorka slightly, recalling her words, "_No matter if you admit it or not, I can see the bonds you've forged with the Tai Chi Chasers…_"

I pulled my gaze back from her and rested it onto my hands. I knew my identity before Komorka had told the Chasers; I was a full-blood Tigeroid. No matter how many times the Dragonoids tried to break that reality that lingered with consciousness within my mind, it didn't remove the fact that it was a part of me in and out. They thought it wise to train me under them, have me in case I had to fake my alliance for the good of a mission, but it didn't keep me from remembering just who my kin was.

Time after time, I refused to acknowledge my relation to my father. He was farthest to a man as one could become. Because of his face imprinted in my psyche, the smells and sounds continuing to reverberate in my head, my mother's death never once avenged by my loved ones that declared their kinship to her, I denied my connection to such a creature as my father, watched him receive his due punishment for his crime, and allowed my custody to go to the Dragonoid government with pursed lips.

It was that day that lifted me onto that balance beam I constantly wavered upon. To reach towards the Dragoids felt like betrayal, but to the Tigeroids felt like hypocrisy. Never once had I seen the marks upon my arms and face of my clan, those stripes that would distinguish me with one or the other. Such a decision had an ability to determine my fate that I just wasn't ready to deal with. I would walk across the beam when I was free from the pulls that made me teeter.

Another explosion pulled me from my unconscious, resending me onto the bare edge of all feeling. My ears caught the sounds of battle beginning on the top deck, shouting and the small booms of Dragonoid and Tigeroid Tai Chi colliding.

Komorka's voice ripped through it all, her voice no different than it had always been. "You know what you must do, Ara; only you know where your heart belongs."

Something within my mind shattered.

I felt my eyes grow wide, and before I even realized that I had been sent into motion, I was running. My mind knew where to go before my eyes even laid on the rooms and halls flashing on both sides of me. I burst through doors, shooting through rooms, feeling as though I was flying. But then I saw something.

Why I spotted it, I never had any idea, but I stopped for it and approached it. On a table I spotted a deck of playing cards. Something intrigued me about them, so I quickly pulled out one and found a place for it with the Tai Chi Card in my hand. Decided, I went off again, adrenaline pumping through my veins. I knew the stairs were the point of no return. When I came to them not a second was spent wondering if I was going to regret climbing them. I was going far too fast to trip nor even have to reassure myself of my balance. If only my balance beam was much like this.

I threw the door open and was faced an entire room consumed in flames, an entire wall blown apart to reveal the outside. The dry heat was hard on my throat and made my eyes sting as I looked for the final staircase that led up to the open deck above. Smoke hazed in thick clouds like a fog, filling the gaps that weren't taken by the fire. Despite that I had nowhere to go, I knew I couldn't just stand there calculating. My mind reeled in its effort to recall the setup of this room, but my instincts had taken over into the flight method. I was running, holding the collar of my sweatshirt up over my nose. The feeling of weak boards giving out under me only pulled me further from mental collection; my eyes moved like shots, analytical and desperate.

Then I saw it. A single door stared me down from across the room, flames partitioning us. The rough air made me hack and my windpipe feel like sandpaper; I didn't have any time to contemplate my options. I had to go for it, otherwise burn to death.

All of it was a blur as I maneuvered around the flames I could and ripped through the inevitable. My entire body begged for mercy and tears begged me for release. When I was in the clear, I dropped to the floor, rolled to extinguish the flames that grasped my clothing, and leapt up to the door. I grasped the knob but sprung back with a cringe at how much it burned. Mentally cursing my foolishness, I unzipped and slipped out of my sweatshirt, instantly feeling relief from the immense temperature, and covered the knob with it as I turned it and opened the door.

I wasted no time, abandoning my sweatshirt to the care of the flames and ran up the stairs. I tried to pay no mind to my now burned hand and how it glowed a distinguished red. The pulsating of my heartbeat felt like a constant tapping within my palm and fingers, so at least then I knew that there wasn't horrible nerve damage, much to my fortune. But still, I knew I couldn't pay attention to my casualty, especially as I burst through the top door and was confronted with the face of battle.

Dragonoid troops—mere, robot foot soldiers—were creating havoc and giving the Tai Chi Chasers a hard time, trying to destroy everything in sight. I spotted Rai off duking it out with a Dragonoid I recognized as Luka, his distinguishing factors being his long, silvery hair that swept far down his back and his fluid style of combat. And while this scene didn't bother me, as there was one concept that caught my distinct attention. Luka _never_ conducted a raid _on his own_.

"Ah, so _here's_ the little traitor!"

Recognizing that voice was child's play from all of the time I'd spent with the Dragonoids, but regardless, when I was addressed, I turned and locked eyes with the man. I thought of him as the lowlife of all of the core Dragonoids under General Vicious. His appearance was as frightening as his voice, his slender body and elongated head, his eyes thin slits shallowly-set within his face. I knew not of the things he quite literally possessed up his sleeves, but could assume that he'd produce that whip that he often would threaten me with while training under the Dragonoids. He—Ave was his name—was by far my least favorite person that could've shown up here with his sick humor in tow.

My fingers only tightened around the Tai Chi Card at the sound of his voice. He called me a traitor even though I had made no move against them or in any matter showing alliance with the Tigeroids; I grinded my teeth at his judgment, glaring daggers at him, and stood my ground in silence. If it all came down to it, I wasn't afraid to take him on. After all, he only had limbs the thickness of toothpicks. The Dragonoid troops could've posed a larger threat.

"Still haven't learned to talk yet, I see! By the time I'm finished, you'll at least have found your voice enough to scream!" His sinister smirk gleamed at me like the eye of a serpent, and without a warning, he pulled out his Activator and a Tai Chi Card. "Tai Chi _Bian_! Whip!" Glowing, green vine-like whips formed above him and as he moved his hands about, they mimicked the motion. "Witness what you have turned your back on!"

He had let it all come at me full force. As soon as I began my maneuvering, the whips sliding past my skin when I narrowly avoided each attempt, I knew this was far different than my training. There were many days I'd return to my quarters bruised, cut open, and staggering as I faded in and out of consciousness, but never once had there been this distinct aura emanating within the heat of combat. This aura of satisfaction—he wanted to beat me down; he wanted to see me crumbled on the floor.

I felt a whip shoot past my cheek, stinging like a rope burn. I wasn't going to let him see that side of me. I wasn't _weak._

I bobbed about, and dropping to the floor somersaulted backwards, and launched myself back, bending about in such a way that mere centimeters separated the tip of the whip from my face. A crouch is what I landed in, poised and my breath slightly hastened. My fingertips rested gingerly against the deck under me, holding me in balance. I kept my eyes directed to Ave, my jaw and gaze equally tight. All around me rang the sounds of the battle that raged on about, but not for a second did I concern myself with those affairs. _This_ was my fight. I intended on keeping it that way.

If Ave even saw the threats that were written in my eyes, he deemed them unreal and completely ignored them. He let out a cackle at my attempts of holding my own, pleased that I was showing such opposition. "You're a fool for betraying the Dragonoids! You're breaking away from the very ones that made you into what you are! You'd be nothing without us!"

My fingers curled into fists. Those low blows hurt, but I had already known he would try and use those tactics to keep me distracted. All I could do was hold my ground and keep his words from bearing weight upon me.

He still continued, but his voice changed considerably. His voice was like venom, enunciating every word with severe delicacy. "We were the only ones that would take you in. You were alone; not even your own father wanted you. Without us, you'd be _dead_."

I leapt up, my emotions flaring, but before I could take a step against him, he'd drawn his whip and with an ear-slicing crack, struck me across the cheek. I opened my mouth and let out a soundless scream, pressing my hand to the instantly-swelling skin. It burned like an endless inferno and stung like countless syringes piercing through. My bottom lip trembled uncontrollably while the rest of my body was frozen in place. Inside me, my heart had climbed up into my mouth.

But no matter how much it hurt, it couldn't even begin to compare to the agonizing storm within me. I unpursed my lips only minutely and didn't make a sound. I couldn't describe this feeling; it held a slight touch of familiarity that I wanted to reach out to and grasp, but it seemed to stem from a long time past. It was too far from my fingertips.

"No comeback, you little traitor? Oh, that's right, your will to speak was crush long ago. Rashness is all you have now; it's the heart of your childishness. You run with any emotion that comes your way and that is your biggest weakness." He cackled as he fingered his whip absent-mindedly as if it were his dear pet that had just learned a new trick. "Now if you don't _quietly_ hand over that Tai Chi Card, I'll be forced to get nasty with you."

My eyes only flickered over the Card's shape for a split-second before it was back onto Ave standing before me. I slowly slid my hand from my swelled cheek, my mouth a firm line. I took a step forward and held out the Card. _Maybe if..._

His grin grew enveloped with a distinct twist of greed as his eyes held fast to the face of _Ki_. He took a few steps forward until less than a yard separated us. He reached out to take the Card from my grasp—

_Now._

I arced my leg out, angling my foot as to strike his Activator and knock it out of his hand, but clearly I had underestimated him as he anticipated my feign and countered. He thrashed with his whip, entangling my ankle and pulling me off balance. He let out another cackle as I crashed to the floor—a sound that was growing more and more horribly irritating as each painful note hit my ears, my face contorting with instant pain.

"That is what you deserve for trying to pull a fast one on me! For that, I'll break you like an egg!" He readied a Tai Chi Card and his Activator, leering down at me like a thief seeing money pouring from an ATM. I knew that look in his eyes, and instantly I knew I had to think fast. What to think about, I didn't know, especially as I set my primary heartbeat-speed glances at each of the Tigeroids, seeing them all busy with their own battles and working to put the fire out that had started on the level under us but had begun to spread upward.

Time seemed to move at an unusual pace. Fast, slow, I couldn't tell. But in an instant, I knew exactly what my initial move would be. I tensed my muscles and somersaulted back just as he came down with the whip, the tip barely missing my bare skin. I shot up to my feet and had no time to think about the head-rush I had instantly received. The moment that he triggered his Activator, I went into full motion, my eyes calculating.

They traced over to the battle that Rai was commenced within, using his Sword Tai Chi and duking it out with Luka. My eyesight was keen enough to catch every movement and realize the patterns in their combat. I ran for it, nearly tripping over my own feet, trying to outrun time itself, desperate to make sure Ave didn't get an attack in before I was ready. The entire time my mind was struggling to retain its levelness as it commanded my gaze to lock onto the Tai Chi Card holder around Rai's waist. Only briefly did I look down at the Card within my own possession, knowing it couldn't help me then.

I knew exactly what I wanted, and as soon as I had gotten close enough to the bright-eyed Tigeroid, I maneuvered about the struggle between him and Luka, but still grew close to press the button to slide the holder open and snatch a Card from inside.

"Hey, what are you doing?!"

That single moment of distraction on Rai's part in accordance with my appeared thievery caused him to be knocked aback in midst of his own battle, but I paid no mind. He may have thought I was stealing the Tai Chi Card from him—that I wasn't trustworthy after all—but only one thought rang supreme in response to such a theory. _Well, you're just gonna have to see for yourself._ My fingers pressed tight to the surface of the newly-retrieved Card and I could feel its power moving through my fingertips and through my arms and throughout my entire enmity. In a single moment, I wasn't afraid of that attack now headed straight for me, my name written on it; I wanted to _face _it.

_Tai Chi _Hwa_! Fire!_

I felt a new sensation ripple throughout my being and in a glow, the marks of the Tigeroids revealed themselves on my arms for the first time. I held the Card out and released a spiraling blast of fire, ripping through _Bian_ with such force that I expected more from the Explosion Tai Chi. But this intense ability that suddenly activated within me was like a hidden volcano awoke from its dormant state; no feeling had ever felt this right—this _me_.

And clearly, Ave didn't see that side of me previously, either. This time I had caught him off guard and rendered him on the floor, rolling to get all of the flames out, all the while yelling at me for my incompetence. I pressed my fingers to my cheek; we were even now, and as he finally extinguished all the flames that clung to him, we both knew the ball was now in his court.

The second I took to catch my breath was a second too long. Instantly I found myself struck from behind and knocked to the floor. A chocolate bar skittered out of my pocket and slid out a ways before me, but before I could lament on it, my head had already snapped back to see just who had hit me. I immediately met the burning eyes of Luka staring downward, his sword interlocked with Rai who was dividing us. _Did he just—? Yes, he just—_

My mind stopped at the revelation, unable to finish the thought. Whether it was instinct trying to overtake thought with action or it was because of the distinct impression it made, I didn't want to decide. Instead, I gathered up all of my bearings that I could muster up and pattered back to my feet.

"Oh, what would this be?"

In the midst of my slight distraction, Ave had fully recovered and had spotted the chocolate bar that had fallen from my pocket that was laying abandoned on the floor. He sneered down at it like it was a part of me and as soon as he wrapped his stringy, little fingers around it, I felt something ignite within me at the sight. Only one thought came into my mind in accordance with this newest development as I furrowed my brows and made a distinct glare.

_You're a dead man._

I lunged before I knew what I was doing, and by the look on Ave's face that suddenly appeared, he didn't either. I was basically a feral Tigeroid at this point as I went all beastie on him, punching and hitting, trying to basically avenge my chocolate for being tainted by his evil hands. Meanwhile, during all of my butt-kicking, he let out deranged yelps, and that was all he could possibly do to defend himself, which in retrospect, was basically nothing.

Snatching the chocolate from his hand, I swung my fist and beaned him right in the face. Practically on contact, his expression derped up and he collapsed on the ground, knocked clear unconscious.

My work done quickly and smoothly, I gingerly opened the package in my hand and ate the chocolate inside. It was reward enough for my liking, which was suitable for what I saw as I turned back. Rai was on the floor, his Sword and Activator just out of his reach on either side of him, and Luka held his own blade out near the boy's face. I recognized that penetrating look in the Dragonoid's eyes; it was that same expression that he had returned to the Luftdrake with on frequently occasion, but only recently. _Was it because of him?_

I couldn't rip my gaze away from the scene. Something was pulling me, telling me something in words that I just couldn't make out. I looked upon each of their faces, first Luka's, then Rai's. The latter had a cut just above his eyebrow and droplets of blood the hue of his eyes were beginning to ooze from within it. His fingers curled at his sides as if trying to grasp something invisible, that he wished was there within his reach, but all-too aware of his reality.

An instinct took my hand and pulled me with it. While it felt as if it were yanking me for miles and miles, I only took one step. My heartbeat roared, the blood within my Tigeroid veins pulsating throughout every end of my body. My lip trembled with anticipation. I had never felt such a rush as powerful, as breathtaking as this one. In a single moment, I knew what I wanted. I wanted to _protest_.

Another step. By this time, Luka had seen me watching, my magenta eyes trained. I felt the marks of the Tigeroid beating on my skin and my own Tai Chi Card—_Ki_, the Breath Tai Chi—beginning to palpitate. I unpursed my lips, stilling its trembling. I could hear my breath escaping in near-mute volume. _Ki_ only glowed brighter, and in one second, I crossed my balance beam.

"Luka, don't touch_ him_."

The soundless that ensued my words—the first words I had spoken since the day of my mother's death—seemed to reverberate to the ends of the earth and back. Luka's expression was hard, but lacking of all sentiment. There were words in his eyes, telling me to continue if I really meant my threat. He wanted me to show him just how serious I was—if I really did desire to oppose the very ones that raised me to be how I was that day.

I took a few more steps so that the gap between us had decreased significantly. I was now standing over Rai in almost the same way that he had been over me minutes before. Just how vulnerable I was to whatever Luka was capable of was evident, but I refused to stand down. "If you leave, I'll give you what you came for." My eyes flickered down to the Tai Chi Card that had started all of this, watching it glow with the intensity it possessed when I first placed my eyes on it.

A warrior of few words, Luka only stared me down for a few moments, his eyes scanning my face. I couldn't place one, single look that flashed onto his physiognomy; my first impression was understanding, but I knew I had to have been mistaken. We weren't on the same side anymore; understanding was too big of a word for what level we could lock eyes on. After a long pause, he responded with one word, "Fine."

My gaze shifted about, and hopefully my thoughts weren't evident on my face. Absentmindedly I slipped the Fire Tai Chi Card back into Rai's Card holder—more than clever, credulous thoughts with it—and then my own Card into the wrapper of the chocolate I had previously eaten as a reminder to Ave as a warning to _never_ take my chocolate. As I handed it to Luka, we exchanged a solemn glance and once again I saw that peculiar expression written within his sharp eyes. And without one more word, he gathered the few remaining Dragonoid troops—who in turned gathered the beat up, still-unconscious Ave—and returned to their own ship, only to take off out of sight.

A silent sigh escaped from my mouth when their airship disappeared. I averted my gaze over to the nose of the ship and saw that the fire that had been spreading had been controlled and put out, the damage on this level minimal. I then looked down at Rai, who was still sprawled on the floor, just giving me this stupefied look he was so good at, and with a half-smile, I offered him my hand. _Hey, even rivals have to call a truce sometimes._

He took it after a second's hesitation, and I pulled him up to his feet. His obfuscated look only grew more so as he made a revelation and voiced it, "Hey, wait. You just gave up that Tai Chi Card after all of this?" And there was that skeptical expression.

At this, I only smirked. Clicking open his Tai Chi Card holder, I pulled out _Ki_, which I had slipped in along with his Fire Card. It glowed in synchrony with the marks of the Tigeroid on my face and arms. "Nope. I may be foolish for saving _your_ butt, but I'm not stupid."

He pouted at my rather insulting remark, completely overlooking the distinct fact that I was actually _voicing_ my insults with a _real _voice. "Hey, I was the one to save _your_ butt _first_!"

"Yeah and look where that got you." I twisted my grin about as I reached up with two fingers and wiped off the blood from his forehead with complete precision and concentration. After looking at it now marred on my fingers, I turned my gaze back to him. "But hey, an amateur is expected to get them little cuts and bruises, _right_?" I couldn't resist the temptation to stick my tongue out at him and as I did so, I gave him a smug little pat on the head.

If annoyance had an ultimate form of manifestation, it was right there on his face. But then it hit him. "Wait, since when did you _talk_?!"


	8. Part Eight

**.Author's Note. Finally finished! I can't believe I just sat down and wrote the majority of this in one evening. I was determined to finish this today and low and behold I have it! The ultimate conclusion to Whisper! Thanks to everyone who has stuck with this fanfiction and I'm really glad that I decided to expand this from that little teaser it started as into a full-fledged fanfic. And I really hope that everyone has enjoyed this and likes how it all comes together. I'm really pleased with how it all ended and I was literally tearing up as I wrote it because I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M FINISHED! T_T **

**Well, again thank you to all of my amazing readers and for one last time, I hope you enjoy this final part of Whisper! Thank you, loves~!**

* * *

It was a few days since the Dragonoid invasion—three if I counted correctly, which I really hoped I could. I remained with the Tai Chi Chasers on an assumedly temporary account, trying to figure out what my next course of action would be. This was a thought that occupied my mind for quite the prolixity, using up a lot of my time, so I constantly found myself—when I wasn't busy getting the Tigeroids angry over my antics—sitting at the nose of the ship.

No, really. The legit nose of the airship's tiger face. The others often wondered how and for what stupid reason I perched out there like a bird, gnawing away at some chocolate. Well, the chocolate part wasn't much of a mystery, but still. It was my place of contemplation and strict meditation. I constantly peered down from there to look at the world below, envisioning all that it withheld from my sight.

Amidst all of my personal ramblings, Sena or any one of the guys—except for Finn, of course. He'd just give me that expressionless look he was so good at and keep walking—would go to the window and open it (and I didn't even know those windows opened till I saw it for myself and heard a voice that almost seemed like it was coming from nowhere) to look down and talk to me. They allowed me to keep _Ki_ with me so that I was free to speak, and we would have brief conversations, usually of little to no importance. I never cared to ask them what I should to do, as I didn't wish to bother them with those trivialities, much less go to Komorka with inquiries in hand, since it was obvious I'd come out with more questions than I began with.

But I had to digress on all of this. What I was doing at the current moment wasn't any of these things prior mentioned, nor even remotely related. No, in the thick of all of my wasted time, I took it upon myself to get something productive done.

Aka, get Rai to teach me whatever this Gangnam Style-thing was.

As surprising as it may have seemed, he wasn't exactly _horrible_ at these weird dance-things. But not so surprising, he wasn't a very good teacher. I didn't care much about this fact, however. I was just glad he didn't take off his shirt again, otherwise I would've found my face a profuse red, been forced to hit him, and ran from the room. And I was certain we would've both been better off if that didn't happen, so in a secret, unspoken agreement sort of way, we both decided to commit; I'd keep the screwing up to a minimum to the best of _my_ ability while he kept the exposed skin to a minimum to the best of _his_ ability.

It was a pretty decent system up until Sena said something about us dancing together that I vowed to never repeat, and from then on my "productive learning experience" was basically ruined. But for the sake of my absolute boredom, I kept on. Plus, I was pretty sure my attempts were overly-amusing to Rai. Every so often, I'd hear him snicker, I'd spin about, unable to keep that stupid blush off my face, glare at him, and he'd shut his trap instantly.

You'd think with all of my training and fluid maneuvers, I'd be able to dance. I was at least a hundred times more graceful than Rai in fighting, yet here I had two left feet and couldn't keep a beat, and in truth (in a truth he'd never hear from me), he had me beat by the longest shot I'd ever seen. Go figure.

So here we were, him repeating the same moves over and over again, and me trying my hardest to mimic them. There was something about this that felt in multiple ways awkward, the movements and swinging of hips feeling foreign and unusual to my combat-trained instincts. The patterns were easy enough to figure out; it was just the moves themselves that left me with a sense that seemed to tell me that this was _not_ what I was supposed to be doing and he was teaching me something entirely wrong.

But apparently according to _him_, he was practically a master of this art called Gangnam Style and I was just the one with the major problem. After about twenty cases of hearing the line, "Aaay, sexy lady~!" come from that stereo and me doing something other than the correct choreography, he finally came out and said just what was on his mind:

"You dance like a frog in a blender."

It took me less than a second to stop dancing, turn about, give him a look of complete and utter detesting, and with a growl-like war cry, tackle him to the floor. His eyes were huge in his surprise as I realized just how uncomfortable this was and how now that I wasn't an enemy trying to rip him apart, this could be taken in much different connotation. So I readjusted myself, sitting cross-legged midway down his chest and staring down at him with narrowed eyes. "Yeah, well you _fight_ like a frog in a blender." I shifted my eyes away, feeling the thick air beginning to settle like a quilt, and trying to distract myself, I pulled out a chocolate bar and began to indulge. "I think when it comes down to it, you're much worse off than me."

To this he didn't respond, but I could see that my blow to his fighting ability annoyed him. "You know, if you keep eating as much chocolate as you do, you're gonna get fat."

If I could've made a look that could kill, I would've been sitting on a corpse right then. "_Youuu_…" I was pretty my trembling I was so irritated with that remark of his. "Fine, take some then!" I stuck my finger in my mouth, covering my finger with a mixture of spit and chocolate that should've been _all-too_ familiar to the redhead, and reached down to wipe it on his face, but he grasped my wrist. We glared at each other as the struggle began, me trying to vandalize his face, him trying to keep me from doing it.

I was about to claim my win at this miniature battle too, but right when my fingertip was about to make contact with his face and deem me victorious, he turned his head and put my chocolate-covered finger in his mouth.

…Yeah, that was far too awkward to be considered a smart move.

"…_What_ are you two doing?"

Now was the instance that made me fully realize the meaning of the phrase "having the deer in the headlights look". My head couldn't have possibly whipped around faster at the sound of Sena's voice, and seeing her standing in the doorway with a rather suspicious look on her face made my face turn about fifty shades of crimson. About a second (or five) passed before I got the bright idea to yank my finger out and get the heck off of him. As I wiped his slobber off my finger, I tried to come up with an excuse, "He was being stupid and tried to eat me!"

As Rai automatically blurted out a, "Hey!" Sena crossed her arms and gave a look that seemed to tell me to try again.

But I _really_ didn't want to try to figure out a different excuse, so before any more could possibly have been said, I had already darted out of the room. I decided to look for the other Chasers, since finding someone to distract me would help keep my mind from going back to what had just gone on in there. Yet there was no stopping the thoughts that had already invaded, like what Rai might say if Sena asked him to fill her in or what Sena had already began to assume.

I found Tori, Donha, and Finn in their small dining hall, distracted with a card game of some sorts. Finn was just off to the side watching with slight interest, but the other two seemed immersed in the game. As I walked in and began to observe, it seemed more like they were looking for something in the deck rather than actually dealing the cards or something of that nature. _Wait, is that the deck that I took the card from? Because if it is—_

My thought was abruptly interrupted by Tori, who had just gone through the deck again a second time and wore an expression that looked equally vexed as Donha's, as he noted, "Hey, one of the joker cards is missing. It was here the last time we played; I remember because I beat Rai with it! Maybe he took it so it couldn't be used against him a second time!"

A half-smile appeared on my face at his words. Rai totally would do something like that; that kid, I knew full well, _hated_ losing, no matter if it was a close defeat or overkill. However, I knew his distinct ability to be a sore loser wasn't what the root of the problem was here. So crossing my arms and cutting into the conversation, I stated, "Actually, that's not _quite_ what happened. But I really don't think you're getting that joker back, since the Dragonoids…kinda have it now…" I gave an awkward smile as I relished on the memory; instead of the Tai Chi Card that the Dragonoids thought I had put in that chocolate wrapper and handed over, it had actually been the very playing card that the Chasers were now missing.

I figured it was a sacrifice worth making.

But I didn't feel like explaining this to them at current, so I just smirked at their perplexity and changed the subject, "But hey, when you guys are done, I'll play some Bologna with you." With my excessive pride and cockiness in tow, I showed off my tongue tauntingly. Even though I had only just learned that particular card game, I felt my ability to lie and my poker face were no forces to be reckoned with. "Loser gets to _kiss_ my _shoes_."

They both exchanged looks, probably questioning with each other if that was really a good idea since I had already deprived them of a good majority of their chocolate supply, and then gave me wide-eyed looks while shaking their heads in unison. As I frowned at them in return, not appreciating their unanimous refusal to play a simple card game with me, apparently Tori thought of a "good idea", "Hey, you know maybe if you lightened up a bit, we'd be more eager to play!" I raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. "We've never heard your laugh before! Laugh and we'll play a game."

_Yeah…no_.

In all honesty, I had basically forgotten what my laugh had sounded like. It had been years since in laughed even remotely; while I took amusement in things, there was a little instinct within me that kept me from showing it in the full extent of laughter. So I remained expressionless, dropping my arms down to my sides and saying, "Yeah, I'm not doing that for your own enjoyment."_ Which is probably why he suggested it; he knew I wouldn't, so as a result, they wouldn't have to play Bologna with me._

"C'mon, be a sport!" Tori instantly smiled that childish grin of his—while I just thought of reasons why I _wasn't_ going to be a _sport_—and pulled out his Activator, along with a single Tai Chi Card. "Tai Chi_ So_! Laughing!"

I knew that attack had my name on it, so I did the one thing I could think of: Used Finn as a human shield.

I wasn't not certain what I was expecting to happen to that dark-haired, ice-eyed boy as a result of the attack, but to say the Tai Chi Card was useless on him was an overstatement. If the ability of that Card was to induce laughter, it clearly had no effect on Finn. All he did was stand there with narrowed eyes, clearly annoyed that I had made him as my shield. A part of me had been curious as to what his laughter would've even sounded like, but apparently this guy had no ability to laugh whatsoever.

He turned and merely stared at me with that icy look which intimidated me enough to back off slowly, an awkward, cheesy grin on my face, and sputter, "Yeah, uh…bye." And was out of there.

I found myself eventually on the top deck, looking about at the world spread out under the airship. The warm summer air carried through the wind flowed about my figure, stroking my hair with soft delicacy. I could feel the peacefulness of Earth by the feel of nature, a peace that resembled nothing in Suhn, a world of war and rebellion. There was no comparison I could make between the two sides the coin; two words that were close in distance, yet so far away in likeness. It had been so long since Suhn had known the effects of unity, and since then the Tigeroids and Dragonoids had split too far apart to go back to that place and expect safety.

Resting my arms against the rail, my eyes drifted outward, my mind drifting even farther. Pressing my chin into an upward-turned palm, I thought about home and just how far away it truly was. Close enough to almost touch, yet too far for my mind to reach out to.

"You're thinking about Suhn, aren't you?"

My eyes shot over just as Sena approached and she joined me at my side. The smile that touched her lips was innocent and sincere as she noted, looking out into the distance as I had been, "You don't have to say anything for me to know it's true. I think about home all the time. I wonder how all of my friends there are doing and what my life would be like if I'd never left." But then she turned to me, her brown eyes shining. "But I've never regretted any of this."

I was pretty sure that my mouth fell slightly agape at how well she read me. Trying to hide the fact that she had basically interpreted everything I had been pondering in secrecy, I averted my eyes away. "I had always chased the idea of having no regrets; I always over-analyzed, maybe waited too long to make a choice. I never wanted the burden of regret, so I passed whatever sort of it I could onto others…" My teeth pressed into my bottom lip, trying to figure out why I was telling her all of this. "…It's why I made the Tigeroids my enemies and denied my own blood." I stared down at my own hands, knowing where I had come from and the clan that I was bound to by Fate. "I couldn't face the idea that this maybe was all supposed to happen…"

My attention was caught at the sound of her giggling, and I returned my gaze back up to her face, slightly perplexed. "You sound just like how I was when I first left home. I've learned that everything happens for a reason, and you just have faith it'll all work out for the very best. Sometimes you take the path less traveled, but you get there. And when it comes down to it—" Her smile grew into a full grin. "—your friends will have your back. That's why you can keep on going with no regrets."

A smile formed on my face at her kindhearted words and I concluded then that I may have misjudged her. She may have had a complex about doing things correctly, but there still existed a sweet girl that knew what she was talking about. I then realized maybe she'd make a pretty good friend. _My first friend. _"Yeah."

But then she turned and leaned against the rail, giving me a knowing smirk. She placed her hands on her hips and a little slyness appeared in her irises. "Your friends can also give you boy advice too."

Heat overtook my entire face in a matter of a few moments. _Is it really that freaking obvious?!_ I narrowed my eyes at my own personal weakness and crossed my arms, almost about to pout when I managed to stop myself from doing so. "If you're selling, I'm not buying," I muttered, finding no real good way to word a proper response.

"Then I'll give you a free tip." Before I knew what she was doing, she began to futz with my hair, causing me to stiffen up entirely. But she had only been messing with it only for a few moments when she then said, "There. You look cute."

I blinked a few times. "What did you—?" I instantly reached up and felt my hair in a high ponytail, tied neatly with a…ribbon? I immediately groaned, not even remotely amused. "…Why?"

* * *

I couldn't explain it—this feeling, this _pull_ I felt. I knew it was it as soon as I saw it. I had been looking down at the world below when I saw it and got a lurch in my chest. Instantly I had departed from my perch that was the Tigeroid airship's nose and ran to the control room, telling the Chasers to stop, to _land_. Unsure but trusting, they complied with my demand only after Komorka—looking as though she was reading my mind—had insisted upon it.

This was it—this was my choice.

What I had spotted was a little town, almost like a village, settled in a clearing surrounded in an immense, emerald green forest. A crystalline river emptied out into a large sea farther off, but where it came from ran past the town into the forest, rushing down a cool, misty waterfall. The entire area had a slow peacefulness emanating from it, untainted by the effects of war. It was simply beautiful how it seemed to be encapsulated by nature, yet the touch of man made it feel like home. That was why it called out to me.

It looked just like my little hometown at Suhn before it had fallen into chaos.

And I would make certain such a fate wouldn't befall this little town. I knew this for a fact, and the Tai Chi Chasers accepted my reasoning for it when I voiced all of it. I could read the expressions on their faces; they knew exactly how I felt. And they had no objections; in fact, as soon as I had spoken my piece, they had gone and provided me with a pack full of things I would need, including all of the chocolate bars that I hadn't _previously_ eaten from their supply.

So here we were, landed in a clearing near the town, standing on the verdant grass to say final goodbyes. A weird ache consumed my chest, and I couldn't place just what it was; it conflicted with the part of me that told me leaving was what I had to do.

"…and if you need anything, make sure to let us know," Donha had been saying when I pulled out of reverie. I felt bad for not catching all that he had said, but my head was in a whirl. All of this was just a little over my head; only mere hours before I had been contemplating what I was even going to do, but now I was at the brink of my departure. Every bit of it had felt so brief, so temporary, and it took all I had to just keep the reality of it in check.

"Or if you just wanna hang out," Tori added cheerfully. He smiled at me, which I returned lightly, trying to keep my mind on the words.

And to make him content, I let out a small laugh. The sound of it was foreign, but rather refreshing, like the greeting of a long-lost friend, and the small, blond-haired boy seemed to take pleasure out of it. "I'll be sure to let you know," I replied with a slightly upbeat tone, feeling slight pink dust my cheeks. "It means a lot to me, guys. Thanks for everything. You're true friends, and I can't explain what it means for me to be able to say you're friends of mine." I grinned. "Even you, Finn. But you could do without all the gloom and doom."

At this he flashed his bright eyes toward me and I saw the hint of a smile on his face.

And before I could brace myself, I found myself captured in a hug by none other than Sena. I melted into it as soon as I got over the awkwardness, and she said smugly as we pulled apart, "I'm gonna just look past the fact you ate all my chocolate and say it was a pleasure to meet you." In a single instant, her tone changed and her eyes seemed to glow. "And if you ever find yourself wanting to hunt the Tai Chi Characters with us, I think you'd make a perfect addition to the team. After all—" The marks of the Tigeroid flashed slightly on her skin for a split-second. "—you're one of us."

"Yeah, and it's by no mistake," I agreed with a smile that matched hers, thinking of the ribbon my hair was bound within. But then as I realized I had exchanged sentiment with all but one of the Chasers, I felt something inside me stir and my insides twist. Apparently whatever it was that stirred decided to totally change the mood with a rather accusing voice, "As for _you_!"

Rai pretty much jumped when I addressed him so informally, and he looked as confused as heck as to what I was up to. _Yeah that makes two of us._ But the confusion didn't interrupt my mouth, "If I hear you screwed the entire world over by doing something incredibly stupid—!" I stopped mid-threat as I morphed my agitated tone to agree with a sudden smile that decided to appear on my face. "Then just remember I've got your back."

But then, I received an impulse. I wasn't sure exactly where the heck it came from, but as soon as it came, I acted upon it and gave the unsuspecting boy a peck on the cheek.

Instantly his entire face ignited in a full-fledged blush and just the fact that he was embarrassed made _me_ just as embarrassed, so to try to cover it all up, I bopped him on the head and stated curtly, "Now don't start making this all awkward by blushing. Idiot."

But despite my defensiveness, my beaming broke through and I pulled out my _Ki_ Tai Chi Card. My emotions were all over the place, and I tried for all I was worth to stay composed. "You know, I don't think I'll need this anymore. Here, add it to your collection. Something to remember me by." I handed it over, but still felt the warmth of its ability flowing in my being. My lips pursed, but knew they would open once again when they needed to. So with that, I turned and gave a final half-wave before beginning to walk away.

From behind me, I heard Rai call to me, having finally collected his bearings enough after I had shown him such affection, "C'mon, stop being so confusing!"

Momentarily pausing, I turned slightly, and instead of replying, I merely smirked and stuck my tongue out at him tauntingly. _I'll stop being confusing as soon as you stop being a loser…_ I turned back and continued to depart, this time with no protest. _…But I do like an underdog. That's why I picked you as my rival…_ I bit my lip and wiped my eyes. There'd be no crying, I reasoned, but knew better as to make that sort of assumption. After all, I could already feel the cool tears against the warm blush on my cheeks.

The gentle breeze brushed past me as I walked, caressing me in its embrace as it flowed back to the Chasers. _Can you send a message for me? _I asked it, _After all, you are going that direction anyway…_ The wind whistled lightly in my ear, a compliance that made me smile in my gratitude. _…All right…then the message is…_ "…I'll miss you…"

* * *

Fin.


End file.
